Indian whitewash not on Clarke's mind - Cricket News Update
The victorious Australian captain, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MJ-Clarke-c1978, was happy with his side’s 122-run win over India in the first Test of the four-match series in Melbourne, but made it clear that a series whitewash was not on his mind.
The home skipper told media reporters that the victory has boosted their confidence but an Indian humiliation, much like how their Ashes rivals England did, is not on their minds.
"We will take confidence from the win but not so much that we can think about doing what England did to India," said the Australian captain at the post match media conference.
Australia, after being rolled over for just 240 in their second innings, rode on the pace of James Pattinson to bundle out MS Dhoni’s formidable batting line up for a paltry 169, winning the match by 122 runs and clinching a 1-0 lead in the series.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 during their July-August tour of England, where the former could not win even a single match across all formats of the game. A 4-0 Test series whitewash cost India their Test number one status as well.
Clarke also praised his bowlers for their outstanding performance after the Australian batsmen failed to set an intimidating total. He singled out http://www.senore.com/Cricket/PM-Siddle-c2197 for being unexpectedly good with the bat in the second innings.
"A lot of credit needs to go to the bowlers," said http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120. "Siddle and Pattinson are making up for our failures with the bat, including me," he added.
Pattinson, who played an unbeaten knock of 37 runs, claimed six wickets and was adjudged Man of the Match.
Clarke was also all praise for the veteran duo of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MEK-Hussey-c1942 for scoring match-winning half centuries.
"Credit has to go to Ponting (60) and Hussey (89) as well. India are a fantastic team. It is great to have them here in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746. We know they'll come hard at us in Sydney," said the Australian skipper.
Second Test of the four-match series begins in Sydney on Tuesday, January 3, 2012.
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