Put Aussie quicks on ice: Ponting

Test great Ricky Ponting does not expect the pace trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins to play any part in Australia's upcoming Gillette ODI Series against India.

Following the fourth Domain Test at the SCG, Australia lock horns with India in three one-day internationals, starting in Sydney (January 12) then Adelaide (Jan 15) and Melbourne (Jan 18) before facing Sri Lanka in two Tests from January 24 in Brisbane. 

Australia's ODI squad for the Gillette Series is set to be named imminently, but given the grueling workload the Test pace attack has endured over the four-match series against India, Ponting expects the valuable quicks to be wrapped in cotton wool.

"I'd be really surprised if any of these three actually play in that one-day series," Ponting told cricket.com.au. 

"It's vital we keep those three guys fit, and with Nathan Lyon as well. 

"They are the backbone, they are the attack we're going to have going into the Sri Lankan series. 

"They'll be put in cotton wool after this Test match and given the right amount of break and time to get ready for the Sri Lanka Tests."

Hazlewood (134.1 overs), Cummins (134) and Starc (128) have bowled a mountain of overs already this summer, going through a Test series unchanged for the first time as a triumvirate, and have had little help in the form of a fifth bowler. 

Allrounder Mitch Marsh played in Melbourne and served a crucial role in bowling 26 tight overs in India's first-innings that lasted a mammoth 169 overs.

But there was no allrounder in Adelaide and Perth, and in Sydney, on a pitch that was expected to spin, Marsh was dropped in favour of Queensland's Marnus Labuschagne, a top-order batsman who bowls part-time leg-spin.  

However, Labuschagne's leg-spinners proved ineffective against perhaps the best players of spin bowling in the world as he recorded figures of 0-25 from four overs, with three fours coming from his maiden over on Australian soil. 

And if Labuschagne can't have an impact with the ball, Ponting pointed out that will likely result in more overs for the pace attack.

"I was surprised Mitch Marsh hasn't played this game," Ponting said. 

"Looking at the pitch, it looked flat and like it was going to be hard work for the bowlers. 

"But now that workload is going to come back on our three quicks. 

"If Marnus can't bowl a bit better than he did in his first over they are going to have to bowl a lot more overs than anyone would have wanted them to."

If Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins are rested for the ODI series against India, Ponting expects a quartet of quicks with international experience and a pair of allrounders to carry out the bowling duties. 

"If they (the Test trio) don't play then you've got to look at the next string of one-day bowlers, probably (Billy) Stanlake, (Jason) Behrendorff, (Nathan) Coulter-Nile … maybe Michael Neser, someone who has been on the fringes the last couple of years," he said. 

"You'd expect they'd be there. 

"(Marcus) Stoinis and Mitch Marsh will probably be in the one-day squad so they can take bit of that bowling as well."   

Any good cricket squad has a bolter, and Ponting has nominated Hobart Hurricanes express paceman Riley Meredith and Melbourne Renegades quick Kane Richardson as possible long shots.

Meredith has clocked speeds of 150kph this KFC BBL season and taken six wickets for the undefeated Hurricanes, while Richardson, who has played 18 ODIs for his country, has captured seven wickets for the men in red.

"Meredith has been quite impressive in the Big Bash," Ponting said. 

"I know it's only four overs, but he's bowled good pace in those games and taken wickets. 

"Kane Richardson has taken wickets as well for the Renegades. 

"We know he's played a fair bit of one-day cricket for Australia over the past four or five seasons."

Domain Test Series v India

Dec 6-10: India won by 31 runs

Dec 14-18: Australia won by 146 runs

Dec 26-30: India won by 137 runs

Jan 3-7: Fourth Test, SCG

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c, wk), Josh Hazlewood (vc), Mitch Marsh (vc), Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc

India squad: Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (wk), Parthiv Patel (wk), Ravi Ashwin, Ravi Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar