We will go full steam ahead to finish on winning note: Ponting

“Yes,the series has been decided,but certainly it is not over as far as we are concerned. We are obviously going full steam ahead to try and win the game and finish the tour on a very good note,” he said.

Ponting said the key to his side’s victory in the series,which he placed alongside World Cup triumphs,was the way the youngsters raised their game in the face of the injury crisis that rocked the team.

“It says all about the individual players. It’s a hard thing to get a game for Australia. Whenever the opportunity comes around,the guys want to grab it with both hands. I said before the start of the tour,if we had 11 players and if they would all contribute each time we play we will be very hard to beat,” the Australian captain said.

“I compare this series with any other I was part of,whether it was World Cup or Champions Trophy. To get over the adversity and to win a series has been terrific. To come here with nine guys injured and still managing to win,it’s got to be a great achievement for this team and the coaching staff,” Ponting said.

Ponting said his bowling attacks,despite missing the likes of Brett Lee,was stronger than India’s and was a crucial factor in the outcome of the series.

“I think in different times in the series we have seen how good and dangerous the Indian side could be,in the second and third games of the series,especially in batting. The difference between the two sides has been the bowling.

“In Mohali,we restricted them after getting out for 250.

That was a terrific effort after we thought we should have scored a few more runs there. I saw stats in the paper in the morning,in batting two of us and two of them were in the top,but our guys probably had more wickets,” he said.

Ponting felt the Aussies were also better in dealing with pressure,highlighted by the close victories they secured in Vadodara and Hyderabad.

“The first one (at Vadodara),they got a lot closer,which we should not have allowed. Harbhajan (Singh) and Praveen (Kumar) made runs.

“The second close one was Sachin (Tendulkar) making that hundred. India were in the box seat for the last half an hour to win the game”,he said.