Gautam Gambhir and Shaun Marsh say time to raise the bar

The Indian batsman says new captain Virender Sehwag cannot work miracles when it is a team effort.

PERTH // Gautam Gambhir, the Indian opener, said a change of captain for the fourth Test against Australia would not banish his side's problems and urged the whole team to raise their game.

The Indian camp confirmed opener Virender Sehwag would take over the captaincy from suspended MS Dhoni for the Test in Adelaide, which starts next Tuesday and is the final match of the series, which Australia lead 3-0.

Gambhir said he was confident Sehwag would do a good job as skipper, but conceded that would not count for much if the rest of the team continued to perform badly.

"Ultimately, I have always believed that a captain is only as good as his team," Gambhir said.

"Captains don't make a difference, it is the 11 players on the field that make the difference.

"Dhoni has done a great job, but it is the entire team that has not performed and that needs to take the blame.

"It is not about Viru [Sehwag] and what difference he can bring to the team."

Dhoni, who has been widely criticised for both his tactics and leadership, was suspended for one match for overseeing slow over rates. It will be the fourth time Sehwag, Dhoni's deputy, has led India in a Test.

"We have not played well, I would be the first one to say that," Gambhir said. "We have let the nation down."

Gambhir also expressed anger at criticism of veteran batsman VVS Laxman, who is rumoured to be on the verge of retirement after a string of unimpressive performances in the series.

"Why criticise one person, all of the top six or seven should be criticised equally," he said.

"Why look at only VVS, he has been a legend. Nobody should decide on his retirement, only he should."

Meanwhile Shaun Marsh, the Australian batsman, has admitted he is running out of chances at Test level.

Having been sidelined by his latest back problem, the left-hander was rushed back into the Australian side for the Test series against India on the back of just one Twenty20 innings.

He is yet to reward the faith of the Australian selectors, with just 14 runs at 3.50 batting at number three, the only slot to which the management has acknowledged as a failure in the team effort.

Marsh has again received the backing of the selectors by being retained in the 12-man squad for the fourth Test in Adelaide, starting next Tuesday, but admitted the pressure to make a susbstantial score was reaching critical mass.

"At the end of the day my job is to score runs and I haven't been doing that in the first three Test matches," he said. "There's always pressure, that's part and parcel of playing international cricket, I've just got to try to turn it around.

"You don't get too many chances to play Test cricket so I know my chances are running out."

In a bid to regain some form, Marsh has been released to play for his domestic Twenty20 side, the Perth Scorchers, tomorrow.