Australian stand-in captain Shane Watson attempts to lift his team after a 4-0 series whitewash against India.
Australia lost the fourth and final Test of the series to India when the home side beat the Aussies by six wickets within four days,
It was another disappointing performance for the tourists with all of the top order failing to perform with the bat and No.9 Peter Siddle top-scoring in both innings – the first time that has ever happened in Test cricket.
Those sort of records will not be welcomed by the Australians however as they have a lot of work to do to improve the team before the first Ashes series of 2013 in July.
Shane Watson stood in as captain for the side in the absence of Michael Clarke through injury and the 31-year-old is trying to remain positive in the face of adversity.
“It’s been a shot in the arm for all of us to really galvanise as a team,” Watson said on Sky Sports.
“There’s a bit of collateral damage with a few of us going down and missing a Test match but, in the end, what’s come out of it is it’s a very united group and that’s exactly what we want going forward.”
Watson is referring to his suspension when he discusses missing a Test match, after the all-rounder, Mitchell Johnson, Usman Khawaja and James Pattinson were all axed from the third Test for unprofessional behaviour.
The controversy surrounding these dismissals, coupled with poor performances on the field – where captain Michael Clarke was the only Australian to score a century all series – resulted in an embarrassing tour of India for the visitors.
The side will just have to hope that they can build on Watson’s optimism before they take on England in the summer.
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