Ponting warns players not be distracted by IPL riches

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Durban (South Africa), Apr. 3 (ANI): Australia captain Ricky Ponting has warned his players not to be distracted by the build-up for the Indian Premier League (IPL) that is to be played in South Africa.

The IPL caravan for the five-week event is about to hit town, led by Shane Warne's defending champions Rajasthan Royals.

"We are the number two-ranked one-day team in the world and we'd love to see ourselves back in the number one ranking by the end of this series. They will be the motivating factors for us, nothing to do with the IPL," Fox Sports quoted Ponting, as saying.

"All the money and contracts have been sorted anyway. Now it's just a matter of representing your country the best way that you possibly can. That's what we'll certainly be trying to achieve over the next couple of weeks," he added.

"I'd like to think that the guys have solely got their minds on what they need to have their minds on for the next couple of weeks,'' the Australian skipper said.

"The IPL will start up once our tournament is over. Whenever you are representing Australia, if you have a clouded mind on anything at all then you are not going to play your best cricket. I haven't heard that around the group, any talk about the IPL whatsoever," he concluded. (ANI)