Aussies to target Flintoff

"Absolutely," he said.

"Whenever you've that kind of a player up the order, the opposition is thinking the longer he bats, the better for them."

Flintoff has promoted himself up the order to boost the scoring in the early overs when field restrictions are in place.

The move backfired in England's opening defeat by India when Flintoff was out for a duck.

"Our thinking is if we can have a crack and get him early with the new ball, then that will leave them a bit thin with the power hitters down the ring, which is where he can do a lot of damage," said Ponting.

"I guess he has always been a middle order batsman and probably hasn't played enough of the new white ball. Hopefully we can get him out early. All our bowlers are looking forward to that challenge."

Australia also lost their opening game, West Indies pulling off a 10-run victory in Mumbai on Wednesday.

Ponting denied his side faced extra pressure due to the defeat or because of the hype surrounding the forthcoming Ashes series.

"We're worried about the one-day game at the moment," he said.

"Test cricket, it is still one month, perhaps even before we start thinking about it."

India celebrate the largest Hindu festival of Diwali or "Festival of Lights" on Saturday and a packed stadium is expected. The losing team is likely to be eliminated from the tournament.