HAMPSHIRE are hopeful of having Shane Warne as captain for the first half of next season.

Warne has confirmed that he wants to captain Hampshire before next year's Ashes series.

He said: "I have a busy schedule this winter, starting with the Test series in India.

"Hopefully, my shoulder will stand up to all the bowling and if all goes well I will return next season and be available for Hampshire before the Ashes series starts in late July."

Chairman Rod Bransgrove said: "Shane doesn't get much rest from the end of the season but he loves playing for Hampshire and we love having him.

"I've got to sit down with him and discuss what's best for both parties because his commitments during the winter are a big ask. But I'm very hopeful."

Meanwhile, Australian captain Ricky Ponting believes that Warne is set to settle old scores in the forthcoming Test showdown in India.

The Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has hailed the four-match contest as the series of the year.

And Ponting expects Warne to rise to the occasion against the Indian batsmen who dominated him on his two previous torrid tours of the subcontinent.

Warne is the second highest wicket taker in Test history with 527 wickets at 24.25, but he has struggled in India.

He averages 52.25 for each of his 20 wickets there in 1998 and 2001.

"I know for a fact that Shane hasn't been all that fit on the last couple of tours (to India)," Ponting said.

"He's carried niggling injuries into both of those series but he is fitter now than he has even been.

"If he can take some good form and an injury free body into Indian conditions, he will play a big part for us."

Warne no longer plays one-day internationals, but his Test presence remains strong and it could be the decisive factor in determining whether Australia wins in India for the first time in more than three decades.

Under Steve Waugh and now Ponting, Australia have recorded comprehensive Test series victories against all opposition home and away - except in India.

Waugh dubbed India as "our final frontier" and he was proved correct in 2001 when India came from behind to win an epic three Test series -hailed as the greatest of all time by some pundits - by two matches to one.

The ICC Champions Trophy, along with the Border-Gavaskar Test Trophy - contested between Australia and India - are the only major competitions that Australia have failed to win in recent years.

Ponting admits that the opportunity to win both competitions in consecutive months gives his team an extra incentive.

"It would be nice to hold the World Cup, ICC Champions Trophy, and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the same time," Ponting said.

"But on any given day the top sides in world cricket can all beat each other.