Australia skipper Ricky Ponting has thrown his weight behind beleaguered umpire Darrell Hair, saying he favours his compatriot officiating in the upcoming Champions Trophy in India.
Ponting said Hair is among the best in the business, and deserves to stand in the biennial event, to be held from October 7 to November 5.
"If he is one of the best umpires in international cricket then of course he should be umpiring," Ponting said in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday on the eve of the do-or-die tri-series league match against India.
"You need to have the best umpires umpiring cricket at the highest level and obviously Darrell has been on the international panel for a long time.
"It is obvious the ICC considers him to be one of (the best). If he wasn't he wouldn't be there in the first place.
"There's been a bit happening over the last month or so with Darrell but I have always considered him to be a very good umpire and we will see how he performs in the Champions Trophy."
Ponting's strong backing of Hair comes a day after International Cricket Council scotched media reports that Hair has been cleared to stand in Champions Trophy, saying the umpires for the high-profile event are yet to be finalised.
Hair has not stood in any match since the Oval Test controversy. He was quoted as saying in the Australian media on Wednesday that he is looking forward to officiating in the Champions Trophy.
The Aussie captain, however, was not sure how Hair would be received in the subcontinent, with whose players he had run into controversies in the past.
"I think it would be good for Darrell to get back on the horse again. I am not sure what sort of reception he will receive in India, but at the end of the day that probably doesn't really matter anyway."
After the Oval Test crisis, the Pakistan Cricket Board made it clear to ICC that they do not want Hair to stand in any of the matches they played.
Ponting indirectly condemned the trend of national boards dictating which umpire should stand in their game or otherwise.
"I am not sure if it's been said he can't umpire Pakistan games, and it certainly hasn't been said he can't umpire Sri Lankan games, so the only team he can't umpire is us, and it's not up to me to make those decisions," he said.
