Slow over rate sees Dhoni pay the price for struggling India

Dhoni’s side surrendered the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the WACA Ground yesterday after they suffered a second successive innings defeat to fall 3-0 behind in the four-Test series.

Their hopes of avoiding a whitewash were then dealt a further blow when Dhoni was handed a one-game ban for a second slow over-rate offence in the past 12 months.

India were two overs short of the required rate during Australia’s only innings of 369, when they spent large periods chasing leather as David Warner thrashed the fourth-equal quickest Test century.

While the Test finished in just over two days Dhoni was still handed the ban while also being fined 40 per cent of his match fee.His team-mates were fined 20 per cent of their match fee.

Virender Sehwag is likely to take over the captaincy in Dhoni’s absence with the uncapped Wriddhiman Saha set to be handed the wicket-keeping duties. India’s defeat to Australia was their seventh consecutive loss on foreign soil and edged them closer to a second successive away whitewash after they lost 4-0 in England.

Before being handed his ban, Dhoni hinted some of India’s veteran batting stars could be playing their final Test series following their thumping defeat.

In both innings India’s star-studded top order failed to fire, with reports following the game that 37-year-old right-hander VVS Laxman was set to call time on his 133-Test career.

After being rattled out for 161 on the opening day, and then seeing David Warner smash the fourth-equal quickest Test century from 69 balls, India never recovered and failed to make Australia bat again despite a battling 75 from Virat Kohli.

The 23-year-old’s innings was the only bright spot of a match in which India’s famed elder statesmen such as Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and Laxman again fell flat on a pacy wicket.

“It is important to be in the present and look at what must be done. At the moment we are not going forward,” said Dhoni.

“(We won’t discuss it) right now, but maybe at the end of the series and we have to see what the seniors’ thoughts are. It will be a phase when it happens though, we can’t have all the seniors leave and the juniors come in. We need the right balance.

Despite the decisiveness of Australia’s win, skipper Michael Clarke warned his side they “had not achieved much yet” as he aims to steer them back to the top of the Test rankings.

“We should be very proud to have beaten the No 2 ranked team in this series and we’ve done a lot of hard work. But we’ve got a lot more hard work to do before we’ll be satisfied.”