Cricket News

‘That’s the part I don’t understand’- Michael Clarke puzzled on Australia not playing a tour match before India Tests

The Border Gavaskar Trophy will start on February 9 which will be a four-match Test series that will be played in India for the first time since 2016-17, when India won 2-1. The Test leg of the tour will be played first, which will be followed by a three-match ODI series. In the 2016-17 series, Australia won the first Test match in Pune on the back of Steve O’Keefe picking up 12 wickets.

Former Australia captain Michael Clarke has now said that he was baffled that Australia did not opt for a practice match going into the Test series against India. He opined that Australia have come underprepared for the India series and that a practice game would have helped them get used to the Indian conditions.

“That’s the part I don’t understand”, Clarke said, “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. Batting in those conditions in one-day cricket and T20 cricket is one thing, batting in Indian conditions in Test cricket it is a completely different game.

Reverse swing is going to play a big part in India  – Michael Clarke on Indian conditions

“You need a completely different plan to what you have 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 stated.

“So reverse swing is going to play a big part (in India), all these batters that walk out and play bowlers bowling 130-140ks – there’s every chance India is going to play at least two spinners, so it’s a completely different game”, Clarke opined.

Michael Clarke said that in Test cricket In India, the conditions will be very tough to bat on because of the impact of spin there. “If you get in you need to go on and make a big score because your first 20 runs in India in the 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.