PERTH, Jan 12: Australia captain Michael Clarke has ensured history does not repeat itself at the WACA Ground by refusing to be drawn into off-field issues as Australia prepare to seal the four-Test series against India starting here on Friday.

Australia lead the series 2-0 following emphatic wins in Melbourne and Sydney, but Clarke remains wary of India after they overcame all odds to beat Ricky Ponting's team here in 2008 during a series marred by incidents both on and off the field.

Ponting and Michael Hussey conceded that the team was distracted going in to the corresponding Test four years ago that led to a 72-run loss.

Following the innings and 68-run defeat in Sydney last week, Australia wicket-keeper Brad Haddin questioned India's mental toughness, to which Indian swing bowler Zaheer Khan hit back ques-tioning the Australian's keeping that has hit a new low during the series.

'I am not here to get involved in any of those [statements], Clarke said of the altercation.

'I'm here to make sure the Australian team is 100 percent prepared and ready to go for a very important Test match.

'India are a very strong opposition and I've seen that throughout my whole career, and they will be tougher to beat than they have been in the first two Tests.

Clarke was also quick to distance the present team from the one that had a heated relationship with India in 2007.

'I am glad I don't have to think about that to be honest,' Clarke said referring to ill-tempered series.

'I am here to ensure that this Australian team plays the right brand of cricket, respects the oppo-sition and continues to have success. That's my goal and we have done that so far.

'It's about mutual respect for each other,' he added. 'The series has been wonderful for Test cricket.

I don't see this Test match being any different.

With the prospect of a lushly grassed pitch for the third Test both Clarke and his Indian counterpart Mahendra Singh Dhoni remained tight lipped about their likely sides.

Both pace and bounce will greet both teams, with the fast bowlers expected to stamp their mark in the Test.

Australia will be forced to make one change, replacing the injured fast bowler James Pattinson with seam bowler Ryan Harris and if a four-pronged pace attacked is preferred, off-spinner Nathan Lyon will make way for Mitchell Starc.

Dhoni's Indians have now lost six overseas Tests in a row including a 4-0 series to top-ranked England during the last northern summer.

But Dhoni believes despite the two heavy defeats in Australia the team has tried hard.

'It does hurt a bit,' Dhoni said when his team's emotions were questioned. 'We are sportsmen, and we will come back and try harder rather than sob about it.

Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar will be hoping to end his 10-month spell without a century and become the first batsman to score a 100th international 100.

Tendulkar has been the mainstay of the Indian batting so far this series with scores of 73, 32, 41 and 80, but a century remains elusive to the greatest batsman of modern cricket.

India are expected to name an unchanged line-up from Sydney, but if the visitors opt for an additional paceman, swing bowler Vinay Kumar will replace off-spinning allrounder Ravi Ashwin.

Teams (from): AUSTRALTA: David warner, Ed Cowan, Shaun Marsh, Ricky Ponting, I¥lichael Clarke (captain), Michael Hussev, Brad Haddin, Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris, Ben Hilfenhaus, 1NathanLyon, Mitchell Starc.

INDIA: Virender Schwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman, Virat Kohli, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Ravi Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar,llohit Sharma.

Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and Kumara Dharmasena (Sri Lanka).

TV umpire: Paul Reiffel (Australia).

Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka).-AP