Australia claim emphatic Test series win

Test series win is not enough for a team who want their number one Test ranking back [GALLO/GETTY]

Australia captain Michael Clarke is targeting the No.1 Test ranking after his side clinched a series victory over India on
Sunday by beating the tourists by an innings and 37 runs inside two and a half days of the third Test.

Australia secured the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by taking a 3-0 lead in the four-match series. Victory in the final Test in Adelaide would move Australia up from their current fourth-place Test ranking to equal second.

“It’s a nice feeling to have won this series, but our goal is to be the No.1 team in the world and we’re not there yet, so we’ve got a lot of work to do and that starts in Adelaide,” said Clarke.

“We haven’t achieved much (as a team) at this stage. We are very proud that we’ve beaten the No.2 ranked team in Test cricket. It won’t change until we achieve what we want as a team.”

Australia have clinically and ruthlessly outplayed India throughout the series, and Clarke believes his team is heading back toward the kind of dominance that Australia enjoyed throughout the 1990s and 2000s.

“The execution of our skills in all three facets of the game is getting consistent.

“To have the opportunity to play against a such a good team and have success, I guarantee that every single person in that dressing room, you won’t be able to take the smile off their faces.”

Captain out

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been suspended for the fourth Test in Adelaide starting on January 24 after being found guilty of slow over rate in the Test at the WACA ground.

Virender Sehwag will captain India in Dhoni’s absence in the last Test of the series, and Wriddhiman Saha will take over as wicketkeeper.

Dhoni was fined 40 percent of his match fee, and the rest of the Indian team 20 percent for falling two overs short in the Australian first innings.

India and Dhoni were fined after being found guilty of a slow over rate [GALLO/GETTY]

Ranjan Madugalle, chief ICC match referee, imposed the fines after the charges against India were laid by the two match umpires, Aleem Dar and Kumar Dharmasena.

“The offence is contrary to Article 2.5.1 of the Code which relates to over-rate offences. Dhoni pleaded guilty to the charge and the subsequent penalties were accepted both by Dhoni and India,” an ICC press release said.

Dhoni became the first Test captain to be suspended under the new ICC Code of Conduct for slow over rates introduced last June in Hong Kong.

According to the new rules, the captain faces suspension for one match if his side is guilty of two over rate offences in the same format over a 12-month period.

India and Dhoni were three overs short against the West Indies in Barbados in June 2011, and later found guilty by ICC match referee Chris Broad.