Australia's stand-in captain Adam Gilchrist said regular captain Ricky Ponting could play in Tuesday's second One-Day International against India at Kochi.
"We haven't finalized our team for tomorrow and Ricky is still very much a chance for it; we will have to wait and see. Ponting is progressing very well. He was very close to playing in Bangalore," Gilchrist said.
Ponting did not take part in the washed-out first match in Bangalore, having injured a hamstring during the Twenty20 World Cup.
"He has a good chance of playing tomorrow without necessarily being a certain starter. We will wait tomorrow and assess it then. As I said, he is making very good progress. He may or may not play tomorrow, but he has a chance," Gilchrist said in Kochi, on eve of the match.
The teams were forced to cancel their practice due to the damp outfield, caused by heavy overnight rain.
Australia scored a formidable 307 for 7 in their 50 overs before rain washed out the first ODI.
Gilchrist said the main aim is to win the series and the team is not keen on rotating players.
"But if you are asking if we will rotate players and rest some, then the answer is no. It is not on the agenda. We are just keen to get into the series and, like India, we will be looking to win every game we play with an overall picture of looking to win the series. We are just breaking it into each game at the moment," he said.
Gilchrist reiterated that the loss of Ponting hasn't affected the team much, as the back-up players filled in quite well.
"Any time Ponting is not available you lose the best batsman in the world. It is obviously a bit frustrating. But one of the guys who stepped into the batting spot, Brad Haddin, played a wonderful innings. We just got to make do and we always felt that we got great depth in our squad," he said.
"With all due respect to Ricky, I don't think we are totally unstable by him not being there. We feel we have solid replacements that are upto international standards," Gilchrist added.
The left-hander believes that the Kochi pitch has a history of being a batsman's wicket and it would be no different this time.
"I think, just looking at the wicket, spin bowling might come into play little bit more effectively than in Bangalore. That wicket seemed to be reasonably good for faster bowlers and a bit of bounce and seam. This looks like a different playing surface. I am sure it will be a nice batting wicket; but, as I said, spin may come into a little bit more than Bangalore.
"The last time we played here 10 years ago Sachin [Tendulkar] picked up five wickets bowling a variety of leg-spin, off-spin, googlies and everything. My recollection of 10 years ago was that it was a nice batting wicket. The scores indicated that. They [India] got over 300 and we nearly got 300. I certainly remember it being a little bit more warmer than this. It was very hot that day," he added.
