Ricky Ponting has been dropped from Australia's ODI squad for the remainder of their tri-series against India and Sri Lanka after scoring a mere 18 runs from his last five innings.

Former full-time captain Ponting, who took on the stand-in captaincy midway through the series in the wake of the injured Michael Clarke's absence, fell for two, one, six, two, seven this month.

With Clarke fit again and back at the helm after his stint on the sidelines with an injured hamstring, the Australian selectors have taken the bold decision to omit Ponting - a veteran of 13,704 ODI runs at an average of 42.03 - from the limited-overs fold.

Uncommunicative about whether they had dropped or rested wicketkeeper-batsman Brad Haddin prior to the start of the series, for which they copped plenty of criticism, the selection panel were far more clear as to where Ponting stood.

"Ricky Ponting has been dropped from the squad due to his lack of form in the five Commonwealth Bank Series matches to date in this series," said national selector John Inverarity.

"The team will not seem the same without him, but moving on from the omission of players who have been outstanding over a long period of time is the nature of elite sport.

"Ricky's record speaks for itself. He is one of the truly great performers in the history of Australian ODI cricket, with his reputation enhanced further by him captaining Australia to two World Cup victories.

"Ricky's contribution goes far beyond his batting statistics and his brilliant fielding. The example he sets in every respect and his extraordinarily positive influence in the dressing-room is acknowledged by all.

"He is held in the highest possible regard by his team-mates and there is no higher accolade than this."

The squad also brings the return of the fit-again Shane Watson, who reclaims the vice-captaincy from David Warner, while Ryan Harris has replaced fellow seamer Mitchell Starc.

Australia's next match is against Sri Lanka in Hobart on Friday, followed by Sunday's match against India in Sydney.

Squad: Michael Clarke (captain), Shane Watson (vice-captain), Dan Christian, Xavier Doherty, Peter Forrest, Ryan Harris, Ben Hilfenhaus, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Brett Lee, Clint McKay, Matthew Wade, David Warner.

Cricket 365