India's misery was compounded last night when captain MS Dhoni was banned for the Adelaide Test for a slow over rate and Australian captain Michael Clarke said he would not relax until Australia had completed a 4-nil series whitewash.
Dhoni has presided over a miserable tour and he last night paid the price for being two overs behind the required over rate.
It was a second offence for the Indian captain in a 12-month period, resulting in an automatic suspension for one Test.
Virender Sehwag, who has shown little resolve with the bat amid rumours of a falling out with Dhoni, will captain the team in his absence, and the reserve wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha will come into the side.
Dhoni was found guilty for the same offence in the West Indies in June last year and last night was called into a hearing with match-referee Ranjan Madugalle, after Clarke’s ambitious Australians seized the Border-Gavaskar Trophy from the world’s No2 Test nation in less than 11 days of cricket.
Clarke said Australia’s job was not finished, declaring the words ‘‘dead rubber’’ would not be tolerated in his dressing room ahead of next week’s series finale in Adelaide, and eyeing a longer term goal to recapture the world No1 ranking.
Ed Cowan, whose 214-run partnership with man-of-the-match David Warner took the game away from India, said the Adelaide Test was a chance to show the world that Australia was back in business.
In his short time as Test captain, Clarke’s Australians have beaten Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka, matched South Africa in South Africa, drawn with New Zealand at home and, in the crowning achievement of his leadership so far, demolished India 3-nil with one Test to play.
The innings and 37 run victory in Perth was completed when Ben Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle captured the last four wickets for no runs. The rapid manner in which the Australians went in for the kill and the Indians folded said much about the series.
When the words dead rubber were uttered in the post-match press conference, Clarke said he would not take his foot off the pedal. ‘‘Take those words back please, there’s no such thing as a dead rubber for me,’’ Clarke said.
‘‘We haven’t achieved much at this stage. We should be very proud, don’t get me wrong, to have beaten the No2 Test team in the world in this series, but we’ve got a lot of hard work to do before we will be satisfied and you will see that in Adelaide. Our goal has not changed from the first Test of the series and it won’t change until we achieve what we want as a team.
‘‘We are a long way from the team we want to be. It’s a nice feeling to have won this series but our goal is to be the No1 team in the world so we’ve got a lot of work still to do and that starts in Adelaide.’’
Australia will have the luxury of an extra two days’ break between Tests, which Clarke suggested would reduce the need for one of Hilfenhaus or Siddle to be rested for the last game of the series.
Spinner Nathan Lyon will come back into the XI for his first home Test, meaning young left-arm quick Mitchell Starc will make way.
‘‘Two-and-a-half-day Test matches help, that’s for sure. I honestly believe that has saved a few of us, the distance the Test matches have gone gives you an extra day, in this case a few days off so with a good week before we even get to Adelaide I imagine they will be very fresh again and looking forward to playing that Test,’’ Clarke said.
‘‘I haven’t spoken to the selectors, but I’m sure we will assess the conditions once we get to Adelaide. Nathan Lyon will certainly come back into the team given conditions in Adelaide are generally flatter and spin a lot more than what we’ve seen in Perth but I need to assess those when I get there.’’
Clarke said he had not considered how the team was shaping up against England ahead of the 2013 Ashes, less than 12 months after its 3-1 loss at home to England triggered a series of hard decisions that are reaping stunning rewards.
‘‘England is so far away I don’t think we even need to consider it. Our goal is to win every Test match in this series, we’ve won the first three and it doesn’t change, we’ll look to win and Adelaide and continue to improve our cricket.’’
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