Ponting wary of India and South Africa

Australia captain Ricky Ponting has picked India and South Africa as the teams to watch out for during the upcoming World Cup.

But Ponting, who skippered his country to World Cup successes in 2003 and 2007, does not wish to single out any particular team as favourites for the tournament.

"I don't care who the favourite is. I don't know whether there is such a thing in a tournament like this," Ponting said.

"India and South Africa are probably the standout teams. They are the powerhouses of international cricket.

"Pakistan and New Zealand are never too far away in ICC events. Sri Lanka, in these conditions, are as good an ODI side as there is in the game."

Australia go into the tournament on the back of a 6-1 demolition of England in their most recent one-day series, but Ponting feels the results in the lead-up don't count for much.

"I don't really care where we start the tournament. It's irrelevant," the right-hand batsman said.

"I think going into the last World Cup there was negativity around us. We lost the Commonwealth Bank series and lost to New Zealand. So there were a few doubts around our team but we went there and won the World Cup."

Success this time around would make Australia the first team to win three-consecutive World Cups, but that is a statistic to which Ponting is not paying too much attention.

"I never thought what it means if we win the World Cup," he said.

"If we get to the final, I might sit back and think what it means for me and for us to win another World Cup. But we can't afford to look that far away.

"We have a really good squad and we will be doing everything to the best of our ability."