The aura of invincibility maybe wearing thin but Ricky Ponting vowed Australia would do whatever it takes to remain the number one team in both the Test and limited over formats of the game.
Ponting, who received the ICC One Day International Championship shield from ICC Principal Adviser IS Bindra in New Delhi on Sunday, said Australia has set high standards and the challenge before his team was to maintain that and cement its place as the number one team in the world in both forms of the game.
"Great challenge lies ahead in Test and one day cricket ... We have set some great standards over the last couple of years and the target is to maintain the standard and to remain the number one team in both forms of the game," Ponting said.
The high expectations from the players and an excellent work ethic would help Australia retain its place at the top, said Ponting.
"We have certain expectations, we need to play that brand of cricket. We'll continue to challenge ourselves and test ourselves and find out how individual players can be better as can be the team. There is a good work ethics in the team and hope we can continue that in all series," Ponting said.
Having lost the shield to South Africa last year, the team under Ponting went on to win 25 of the 34 ODIs -- with three no-results -- since April 1, 2007 to win back the shield.
"It means a lot to the Australian cricket team. Last time, we stumbled on the last hurdle and actually relinquished the shield to the South Africans.
"It has been a great year for Australia in one day cricket. Lot of great individual performances and lot of great team performances along the way. This is certainly what the Australian team strives to achieve," Ponting said.
"We strive to be the number one team in the world in both forms of the game and thankfully for the last two years, we have been able to manage a pretty high standard. So, there's some challenge ahead in the next couple of weeks as we know and we are looking forward to it," added the Australian captain.
ICC Principal Adviser IS Bindra congratulated Ponting on the achievement and said, "I'm happy that the Aussies have come at the top of the table again. For a while, they lost it to South Africa. They bounced back, won their series and white-washed the West Windies. They always bounce back when they are under pressure. I wish them all the best for the upcoming Test matches.
"They have given immense amount of joy to fans the world over, including India," Bindra said.
