Ponting punches his fist with delight as the final wicket falls

"That's an unbelievable win, almost as good as any I've been in, I think.

"With 10 overs to go the game was sort of slipping away and the last roll of the dice was to give Michael Clarke [who took three wickets] a crack.

"You love playing Tests for this but eight minutes to go is a bit later than we would have wanted to," he said.

Interview: Australia captain Ricky Ponting

Ponting, who might have faced criticism for an over-cautious declaration which gave his team just 71 overs to bowl out India, added: "A lot of people would have thought it was going to be a boring draw.

"But we knew we were good enough to win the game. We just had to stick at it and hope things fell our way."

When it came to the end we were getting impatient Michael Clarke

Part-time spinner Clarke had not previously taken a Test wicket in Australia with his slow left-armers.

But he polished off the tail in sensational style in the penultimate over of the game to help the Aussies match their own world record of 16 consecutive Test wins and take a 2-0 lead in the four-match series.

606: DEBATE Australia's hunger for success is a stronger force than the desire of other teams to deny them that success BBC Sport's Oliver Brett

"We played really well throughout the whole day and when it came to the end we were getting a bit impatient," Clarke explained. "All the guys were pretty tired.

"It wasn't until the last session that we mentioned the record in the changing room. We had this opportunity to do it and it's a fantastic feeling."

India skipper Anil Kumble was left to rue what might have been but insisted his side would remain upbeat for the third Test in Perth, which starts on 16 January.

We were on top from day one but unfortunately things didn't go our way India skipper Anil Kumble

The tourists reduced Australia to 134-6 in their first innings and took a lead of 69 before succumbing to the world champions.

"I'm disappointed to lose the way we did. It was not just the eight minutes - right through the Test I thought we were on top of the Australians from day one but unfortunately things didn't go our way," Kumble said.

"We had a chance to save the game but the way the Aussies played all credit to them.

"Despite the amount of disappointments we had through the game we came back fighting hard.