Australia will attempt to win the tournament without their leader

Australia captain Ricky Ponting has been ruled out of the rest of the ICC World Twenty20 tournament in South Africa because of injury.

The 32-year-old Ponting pulled a hamstring muscle during Tuesday's defeat by Pakistan.

Australia play Sri Lanka in their last group game on Thursday in a rematch of the World Cup final earlier this year.

The winners of the game in Cape Town will join Pakistan from Group F in qualifying for the semi-finals.

It remains to be seen if Ponting will be fit for Australia's one-day tour of India at the end of the month.

Australia will now aim to add the World Twenty20 title to the World Cup trophy they won by beating Sri Lanka in the West Indies without their skipper.

In his absence, much will be expected of the likes of Adam Gilchrist but the Australian opener has become the latest Twenty20 sceptic - suggesting he would rather watch it than play it.

"The more I play it, I am starting to, not so much like it as a player, but love watching it," said Gilchrist, who insists his team are taking the tournament seriously.

"I am still not totally convinced that over the short term, the skills get to come through as much as they do in the longer formats, so that evens up the games, which is a great spectacle, but we'll see over time."

New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori said he hoped the format was not the future of the game, while West Indian skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan also voiced his disapproval.