Australia facing selection dilemma

Australia's cricketers have returned home from their triumphant tour of India with an unexpected problem over the make-up of their team.

Australia's first series win in India since 1969 marked the arrival of new batting sensation Michael Clarke, although his performances have left the selectors in a dilemma over the side to play New Zealand in two weeks.

Clarke was initially picked as a fill-in for injured captain Ricky Ponting and did so well on the tour that he is threatening to take Darren Lehmann's place.

Lehmann, an outstanding batsman for Australia in recent years, left India early with an injury, allowing Clarke to keep his spot when Ponting returned.

With both players expected to be fit for the first Test with New Zealand starting later this month, the selectors will be forced to choose between the pair.

"It's going to be very hard work for the Australian selectors," Ponting told reporters on his arrival back in Sydney on Sunday night.

"I know Darren Lehmann still has a lot of good Test cricket left in him but when someone like Michael performs as well as he did on the last tour, he looks to be the future of Australian cricket."

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Clarke was an instant success in his first Test appearance for Australia, scoring 151 on his debut and making twin half-centuries in the third Test to finish the series with 400 runs at an average of 57.

He also showed his worth as an all-rounder,

taking six wickets for nine runs in the fourth Test in Mumbai, albeit on a crumbling pitch that suited the spin bowlers, but he said he was happy to bide his time if the selectors chose Lehmann.

"They have to drop somebody and if it's me, then that's completely up to the selectors and I do not have any dramas about it, that's completely up to them," he said.