Media reports indicate there was stiff opposition at boardroom level to the 36-year-old retaining the job for the April tour of Bangladesh, although his position as a player was not in jeopardy.
"We need to be looking at the future. It's time for us to make a change," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted the official as saying.
Ahead of the World Cup, Ponting earned the dubious distinction of becoming the only Australian skipper to fail to win the Ashes three times, putting him under enormous pressure
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He has also done himself no favours in India, taking a reprimand from the International Cricket Council aftersmashing a dressing-room TV in a fit of fury after being run out during Australia's World Cup win over Zimbabwe.
He was also criticised for angrily throwing the ball to the ground after colliding with teammate Steven Smith during their victory over Canada.
Then his sportsmanship was questioned when he failed to walk in the defeat to Pakistan.
"We're waiting for the next thing to blow up," the official said. "We don't go a game without there being some issues with him."
In January, Ponting welcomed a review into his future as captain after Australia's crushing Ashes defeat.
"There is a review after every season, of which I'm always a big part," Ponting wrote in his column in The Australian.
"I understand there will be a lot more involved in the review this time around and rightly so. It's going to be a lot more in-depth than I've ever been involved in and probably as big as those conducted when Australia was really struggling in the mid-80s. There are a lot of things that need looking at and I fully support such a review.
"I certainly expect my performances as captain and batsman to be heavily scrutinised. You've got to expect that after the disappointing series I've had. The captain, vice-captain, coaching staff and selectors, we're all in this together and we have to find a way out of it together. Michael and I both understood going into this series that if we didn't contribute heavily with the bat that there would be a lot of questions asked about us as players and leaders and that's the way it has turned out.
"I want to keep playing. I still believe I am one of the best six batters in Australia but I know that ultimately my future as a batsman and captain is in the hands of the selectors and the Cricket Australia board."
News Limited cricket writer Robert Craddock said that the World Cup had presented Ponting with the ideal opportunity to hand over the captaincy.
“Win or lose (against India) it’s a perfect time to bow out. If they win – what a time to bow out. If they lose it’s categorically time to leave.
The issue of whether Ponting should hold on to the Test series captaincy was less straightforward for Craddock.
“That is more complex. Really, he is looking like a guy who’s feeling his age. He’s looking like it’s time to go.
“Ricky was always the guy who never stressed about his form, but at the end of each over (in the match against Pakistan) after he was dismissed you’d see him chewing his nails, he really was in a bit of a state.
“You can only give him so much sympathy because if you play on in your 37th year you get what’s coming to you.
“He’s been good enough to bat his way out of a form slump but this one’s gone on a bit.
“He’s done beautiful work off the field as a captain over the last few years, he’s really lifted a few young players.
“But it’s really ground him down.”
The issue of whether Ponting should hold on to the Test series captaincy was less straightforward for Craddock.
“That is more complex. Really, he is looking like a guy who’s feeling his age. He’s looking like it’s time to go.
“Ricky was always the guy who never stressed about his form, but at the end of each over (in the match against Pakistan) after he was dismissed you’d see him chewing his nails, he really was in a bit of a state.
“You can only give him so much sympathy because if you play on in your 37th year you get what’s coming to you.
“He’s been good enough to bat his way out of a form slump but this one’s gone on a bit.
“He’s done beautiful work off the field as a captain over the last few years, he’s really lifted a few young players.
“But it’s really ground him down.”
Michael Clarke, who led Australia to an emphatic 6-1 one-day series victory over England to give them a boost after the post-Ashes despondency, is seen as favourite to take his job.
Australia face India in the World Cup quarter-final in Ahmedabad.
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