Ricky Ponting batsmen against India. Australia sealed the series win by defeating India in Perth, and in the fourth Test in Adelaide, Ponting and Clarke beat their own record, putting on 386 runs. The partnership was the fourth highest to that point in Australian Test cricket. Ponting's own score was 221. During the innings, he became only the third player and the first Australian (after Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, who were playing in the same match) to pass 13,000 career Test runs. On Australia Day 2012 he was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia for services to cricket
Ricky Ponting award, before praising his young side for the title defence. Australia proceeded to tour India for seven ODIs starting in mid-October and ending in early November. In the opening match, Ponting top-scored for Australia with 74 from 85 balls, as his team narrowly escaped defeat. Ponting made just 12 in India's comprehensive victory in the second match, while he scored a slow 59 from 93 balls (four boundaries) in another Indian victory in the third match. The Australian captain stuck a more fluent innings of 52, scored in 59 deliveries in the following fixture. Australia amassed their biggest total of