Hard work paid off: Clarke

Despite winning the first two Tests against India inside eight days, Australia captain Michael Clarke has acknowledged that his team had to work very hard for the positive results.u00a0When asked bluntly if he expected a 'cake walk' against MS Dhoni's men at the start of the four-Test series, Clarke said, "I certainly don't think it's been a cake walk. I think there's been some really hard fought Test cricket. Both matches have been very exciting. We are playing against the No 2 ranked Test team in the world, against a lot of great players.

Clarke refuted claims that India's batting line-up was overrated. "Not at all, I think India's batting line-up is as strong (a batting) as I've ever played against. They have some greats of the game, who have lot of Test runs between them. I would never write off great players, so my focus is to make sure we are at our best come Perth, because we know how good their players are," he said.

Clarke, who followed his triple century with the prized wicket of Sachin Tendulkar yesterday, now has 14 of his 24 wickets against India ufffdincluding his best figures of 6-9 at Mumbai in 2004-05. "I have absolutely no idea (why I have done well against India with the ball)," he joked. "It's obviously a great feeling every time I get a wicket... trust me because it doesn't happen too often," he added.

When asked if Tendulkar's pursuit of the 100th century was putting pressure on India, Clarke said: "To be honest we have not spoken about it at all, Sachin has been such a great player for such a long period of time. He's still making a lot of runs. Unfortunately, I wish he wasn't making as many as he is. But, never write off great players. And as a team, we have the utmost respect for him. Touch wood, it's nice he hasn't made his 100th hundred at this stage, but there's a long way to go in this series."

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