Melbourne, Feb 23 Out-of-form Australian captain Ricky Ponting believes he needs to spend some time in the middle to get back to his usual runscoring ways.

Ponting has made just 64 runs at an average of 10.66 in six matches in the tri-series so far and said today he was working hard to get out of the slump.

"I want to work my way through it and come through the other side. I'm not quite through it yet but I'll keep trying and I'll keep working hard," he said.

The Tasmanian stressed taking a break, now that the hosts have qualified for the tri-series finals, was not on his mind.

"I have never thought of having a break. Physically, I have felt very good," he was quoted as saying by a sports portal.

"I did a lot of training yesterday and came out early this morning to get some bat on ball for a while. I'm working hard enough." Ponting said the key to come out of the rut was spending more time in the middle.

"I really do only think it's getting half an hour or an hour in the middle and every batsman says that. And it's getting that time in the middle that's really important." He hoped tomorrow's encounter against India in Sydney would signal an end to his travails.

"Hopefully, it's on Sunday that I get that hour in the middle and a few balls from the middle and things will start to turn around," Ponting added. (Agencies)