Michael Clarke undaunted by India spinners' threat

February 20, 2013

Michael_Clarke

Chennai, Feb 20: Australian captain Michael Clarke Tuesday sought to dismiss talks of his side's vulnerability against spin bowling, saying they would not be intimidated by the home team's slow bowlers in the high-profile Test series starting here on Friday.

Addressing a press-conference after the team's training session, Clarke said he has got a side which can achieve success in India.

"We will not certainly be intimated by the player whom we are playing against. We need to have success from every single delivery that we face. We have got a good squad, we have got plenty of good choices in spin bowling, batting and fielding," Clarke said.

"I do not think that we can look too much into how India are going to play and what conditions will suit them best. In Indian conditions the ball spins as the pitch deteriorates and also has variations and bounces as well. I think the reverse swing is also very important. But, as I said we have the capability to do well in India," he said.

He refused the take the bait on Indian offspinner Harbhajan Singh's remarks that the home side would win the series 4-0 nor dwell on the recent poor results of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men. "India is a fantastic cricket team, even better around their back yards. So, the focus of the Australian team is not on Indian team but completely on us to make sure that we are well prepared as we can be. Make sure that we do the right things to play the brand of cricket that we want to play," said Clarke when asked if India would be under pressure after their recent loss at home against England.

"We take a lot of confidence out of the Australian summer and we competed really well against South Africa, the number one Test team in world. We beat Sri Lanka in a most recent Test series. The guys are full of confidence and looking forward to the challenges," he said.

On Harbhajan's remarks, Clarke simply said, "It is nice to see him back in the squad. He is a wonderful player and a very competitive cricketer and loves challenge of playing against any opposition, especially Australia. I think he is a very good bowler and we have to play well to make sure he does not have too much of an effect on the series.

"In regard to result on the series, I am now focusing on the first Test and would like to take one match at a time," said the Australian captain.

Asked about his players' failure against spin in the practice games, Clarke said the slow bowlers got more wickets as they bowled more overs. "At the end of day you have to get out to somebody. The more overs that somebody bowls, he will take more wickets. The spinners' bowled a lot of overs and they got lot of wickets.

"Moreover, the conditions would be different in the Test match compared to what was there in the practice game," he said.

"But, it's again one of the areas we continue to improve as we are to face lot of spin bowling when we play against India in all four Test matches and certainly in the first Test in Chennai. Our boys have been training hard and preparations have been fantastic," he added.

He disagreed with the view that his side would struggle in the absence of Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey in tough Indian conditions and said he would look forward to leading from the front. "No doubt, it's a challenge but I don't think it's any bigger as Ricky and Hussey are not here. It's an opportunity for a couple of senior members of the team to stand up. Our boys have been training as hard as possibly they can. That is my main focus to make sure for us to be well prepared as we can be. I am a hundred per cent fit and looking forward to the series, scoring runs and leading from the front.

Asked about the likely impact of Sachin Tendulkar, who struggled in the recent Test series against England, Clarke said, "Sachin got a hundred most recently. So, I think he is in really good form. He is a huge player for India and we have to just try and get him out as early as possible as he knows how to make lot of runs and big hundreds."

On the lessons learnt and positives got by his side from the two practice matches, Clarke said, "The real positives are playing in these conditions. Our guys have had some cricket under their belts ahead of the first Test is real positive.

"The fact that they faced lot of spin bowling and reverse swing bowling and playing in the game is better than batting in the nets and the preparation we got has been fantastic."

Clarke said he was confident that dashing opening batsman David Warner would play in the first Test in Chennai. "Warner has improved and continually improves every day.

"He faced bowlers at the net today. At this stage, I am very confident that he will be fielded in the first Test," he said.

On the slot for Shane Watson, Clarke said, "We have not picked our team at this stage and I do not have the batting order at this stage. But, Shane has been in good form these days. He played very well in both the innings in the three day practice game. He will come back into our team. I am not sure about what position he will be batting."

Clarke occasionally bowls left-arm spin and he said he would have to do it in India if the need arises. "Look, I think, it is part of your job and responsibility that you want to be the best you can be. You want to help the team win. This is what is most important to me. If I have to bowl, I look forward to that. I want to make sure that I am scoring runs and that is my first and main focus.

"Like I said everybody in the team have to score runs and contribute. It is going to take the full squad of players and support staff in the next six weeks to have success in India."

He also said that his side would play their brand of cricket and not what England had done recently. "I do not think anybody [any country] is invincible. It's always tough to beat the opposition in their own backyard. I think England played very well. I did see some footage of the recent England series against India. But that will have no bearing on us and we will try and play the Australian way. We will not be looking to play like England," Clarke said.

"We have spin bowling options. Australian strength now for a while has been fast bowling. We will assess conditions before selecting our squad for the first Test. I think we need to do what is best for Australian cricket team," he added.

Clarke said the exposure of many Australians cricketers playing in India in the IPL has made it a bit easier to adapt to the conditions here. "It is never easy to play in India. It is really tough conditions. Always it has been a hard place to win for the Australian teams. I think the IPL and the Champions League have played a huge part in regard to international players getting used to the country and the conditions and the culture.

"I think it certainly helped in regard to just about everybody in Australian squad had been to India for IPL or Champions League. But in saying that Test cricket is lot different to T20 cricket like I said it is always a tough tour to come here and have success. We have to be at our best to do that."

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
January 11,2020

Dubai, Jan 11: India opener KL Rahul has retained the sixth position while skipper Virat Kohli and left-hander Shikhar Dhawan have advanced one place each in the latest ICC Men's T20I player rankings after the conclusion of the series against Sri Lanka.

India won the T20I series 2-0 with one match getting washed out. Rahul, the highest-ranked Indian batsman, has gained 26 points and is now at the sixth spot with 760 rating points.

Rahul is just six points behind Australia's Glenn Maxwell after scores of 45 and 54 in his two innings against Sri Lanka.

Kohli, top-ranked in Tests and ODIs, is in the ninth position while Dhawan is on 15th. Manish Pandey has advanced four places and is ranked at the 70th.

India's fast bowlers have made notable gains in the first T20I update of the year and would be encouraged as they prepare for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia.

Player of the series Navdeep Saini has rocketed from 146 places to 98th while Shardul Thakur has re-entered in 92nd position after both finished with five wickets in the series. Jaspreet Bumrah has gained eight places to reach the 39th position.

For Sri Lanka, Dhananjaya de Silva has gained 72 places to reach 115th among batsmen after aggregating 74 runs while spinner Lakshan Sandakan has moved up 10 places to reach 29th position after grabbing three wickets in the series.

In the ICC Men's team rankings, India have gained two points but remain at fifth position with 260 points, while Sri Lanka have lost two points and now have 236 points and are at the eighth spot.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 13,2020

Islamabad, Jun 13: Pakistan cricket team’s former captain Shahid Afridi, who has tested positive for coronavirus,  appears to have contracted the virus during his recent visit to Muzaffarabad city of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) where Pakistan has been sending its corona positive patients.

The former Pakistan cricketer was seen attending gatherings in Muzaffarabad last month without wearing a mask and not maintaining social distancing. He spewed venom against India during his rallies. 

Afridi visited PoK to also express his solidarity with the people there who have been left to fend for themselves in combating COVID-19 as Pakistan has refused to provide any COVID fighting equipment like PPE kits and ventilators to the area’s handful of hospitals. 

In fact, Pakistan has been using the PoK as a “dumping ground” for COVID-19 affected persons from all across the country as authorities want to keep Punjab province free of corona positive persons. 

The locals held massive protests against Pakistan for setting up quarantine centres and shifting patients from parts of Pakistan to PoK. 

People are immensely suffering in Pakistan occupied Kashmir due to spread of coronavirus as the region lacks proper medical facilities and has a handful of COVID-19 testing labs. There is also lack of expert medical staff to conduct COVID-19 tests. 

A large number of people here are presumed asymptomatic and they are fast spreading the virus because of lack of medical care. 

Pakistan has reported over 1,25,000 coronavirus cases and 2,463 casualties. In Pakistan occupied Kashmir, the COVID-19 cases have increased to 534, whereas in Gilgit-Baltistan 1,030 have been  reported. 

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
August 3,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: The finals of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 will be played on November 20, the sources within the BCCI confirmed on Sunday.

The IPL's governing council met earlier today, and it has also been decided that the evening matches will start at 7:30 pm, half an hour earlier than usual.

Jay Shah, the secretary of BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) and Arun Dhumal, treasurer of BCCI did not attend the IPL's governing council meeting.

"The tournament will run for 51 days, usually the IPL should go on for 49 days as per the constitution, however in the meeting it has been decided that we will go to Supreme Court for conducting the IPL in 51 days," sources within the BCCI said.

"As the tournament is running for 51 days, we will get the chance to play fewer doubleheaders, there would be just 10 double headers, evening matches will start at 7:30 and the afternoon matches will start at 3:30. 

The matches will be played across three venues at Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah as travelling here by road is easier and bio-secure environment can be maintained," he added.

The IPL's governing council also confirmed that Women's IPL will also go on and four teams would be participating in it.

"When it comes to women's IPL, there would be four teams and the matches would be played at the time of playoffs for men's IPL," the source said.

The source within the BCCI also said that the governing council would be meeting again to discuss the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for all the franchises that need to be followed in the IPL.

The governing council meeting discussed the quarantine measures along with the standard operating procedures (SOP), bio bubble training facilities, stay and travel of the players.

Issues related to the broadcaster, shifting, and scheduling of the tournament, and DXB app to be downloaded for players and other officials were also discussed as well.

A few days earlier, the IPL Governing Council chairman Brijesh Patel had confirmed that the 13th edition of the mega event will commence on September 19 in the UAE.

This year's IPL was slated to commence from March 29 but the tournament was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) had also confirmed receiving the official Letter of Intent from the BCCI to host the 2020 edition of the IPL.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.