IND Vs AUS: Michael Clarke Surprised To See Australia Not Playing Tour Game Before India Tests
Melbourne: Former Australia skipper Michael Clarke is surprised the Pat Cummins-led side aren’t playing tour or practice games ahead of the all-important Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India starting next month on February 9.
Earlier this month, Australia head coach Andrew McDonald had stated that they don’t need any tour games ahead of he series. “That’s the part (not playing tour games) I don’t understand,” Clarke was quoted as saying by Big Sports Breakfast on Tuesday.
“The no tour game before the first Test in India. I hope I’m proven wrong but I think that is going to be significant,” added the 2015 World Cup-winning Australian captain. Australia will play four Tests against India.
Clarke, who led Australia to 2015 World Cup win, has played 115 Tests and scored more than 8,600 runs. He added that playing 20-over or 50-over games in India was completely different from competing in the longest format, especially while countering spin.
“You need a completely different plan to what you have (been) playing in Australia, the way you start your innings against spin bowling, the way you play reverse swing, through the Australian summer we didn’t see any reverse swing, the games were over in two, three days,” he said.
Meanwhile, former Aussie wicketkeeper Ian Healy too sounded ‘little bit worried’ at Australia not playing a tour game. Australia are likely arrive in India in the middle of next week, giving them around seven days to tune up for the gruelling series.
Clarke felt that those one week wouldn’t be enough before the series. “You need to bat in the best possible conditions (in India) because after that, if you haven’t grown up playing in those conditions, man it’s extremely difficult to start your innings.
“And if you get in, you need to go on and make a big score because your first 20 runs in India in second innings, whoa, a ball that you go forward to and block in Australia easily against spin, over there can roll along the ground, can bounce and take your glove.
“You can go to block it outside off and it bowls you leg stump, natural variation over there is massive,” he added.