-Boria Majumdar
He is known to speak his mind and is one of the sharpest brains to captain Australia. Needless to say he is pained and frustrated with the way Australia has played. Can they come back or as Sourav Ganguly has said, India will win 4-0. Here is Michael Clarke in a candid conversation with Boria Majumdar on Backstage With Boria.
Boria- Sourav Ganguly has predicted a 4-0 scoreline. Do you think Australia can prove him wrong?
Michael- I hope so. For if they don’t it will be hugely frustrating for every Australian cricket fan. At the same time I understand where Sourav is coming from. I don’t know what Andrew McDonald or anyone else will say but according to me Australia should have gone to India earlier. The preparation was not upto the mark at all. If you couldn’t go to India you should have gone to the UAE at least to prepare for a tour like this. Also you must play a tour game. To not play a tour game was a very wrong call. You can’t train for an India tour by trying to replicate conditions in Australia. It isn’t possible. To do so was a mistake. In England you expect seam, in Australia bounce and in India spin. You can’t say I will alter the conditions and win.
Boria- Two questions. First you start saying doctored pitches and let the pitch debate get into your head. Journalists and former cricketers like Ian Healy indulged in this. Second, you get someone like Mahesh Pithiya to get ready for Ashwin. How do you explain this.
Michael- When you are going to India you absolutely know what you are up against. You know what kind of pitches you will get and let me say this clearly to you- India has done the exact correct thing by producing these sorts of wickets. They have been smart. They have used home advantage and are absolutely right in doing so. When a team comes to Australia we always want to start them at the Gabba. We want to unsettle them with pace and bounce. We know it is the best way to use home advantage. If that’s not wrong why India has done can’t be wrong either. It isn’t wrong. Second, Ashwin and Jadeja are as good as anyone you will ever get in world cricket in these conditions. They are two greats of the modern game. You have to give them the respect they deserve and for that you needed to prepare well and prepare smart. Australia hasn’t done that.
Boria- What about team selection? No Head in the first Test. Ashton Agar gets picked and doesn’t play and now has gone back. He will be back again for the ODI’s. Can you make sense of what is going on?
Michael- Mate everyday we speak about this in our radio show here in Sydney and the answer is no we have no idea. I am completely confused with what is going on. Why did Agar go and why did he come back? Two debutants played ahead of him. I really don’t know what’s going on.
Boria – Ravi Shastri believes KL Rahul should be given a break. Gautam Gambhir believes he should be persisted with. What’s your position on him?
Michael Clarke- I think if the team is winning and the team believes he is an imp player he should be given another opportunity. If you think he should be backed and clearly the captain and coach thinks so I have no problem in him being given another chance. Who knows he will come out and get a 100 for you. Had it been that you aren’t winning then it’s a diff story. But when you are winning he can surely be backed.
Boria- We have seen you score runs against spin. Your 151 on debut remains the gold standard. Damien Martyn scored runs. Hayden scored a lot of runs. So runs can be scored again spin. What’s the problem here?
Michael- Good question. And you know what Matt Hayden and Mark Waugh are both there in India as commentators. If I was in the Australian camp I would want both of these men to be with the team at the nets every single day. If they want money give it to them. Even Hayden who used the sweep to perfection is saying on commentary that you cant just sweep every ball or play the reverse sweep every ball. He knows it. You can play these shots when you are not out 80 not when you are on 8. Why cant the management use these players? Why can’t they draw on their experience?
Boria- Rohit has shown how to play spin. And his leadership has been top notch. Virat too has looked in very good sync. Ashwin and Jadeja are in the best shape. So our main players are all delivering.
Michael- Rohit has been stellar. I think he is a very good captain. He has four fielders close to the bat when Australia has four on the boundary. That’s the difference. Rohit knows what he wants and is telling the Australians to take risks.
Coming to Virat, you can see the hunger in his eyes. And once he is back at his best you know the big knock is just round the corner. I just hope it doesn’t happen in the next two Tests.
On Ashwin and Jadeja I have already told you that they are the two best in the world. “They know these conditions the best and are better than anyone else in these conditions. So, in sum it is hard. Very hard for Australia. Sourav has said what he has knowing how hard it is.”
Boria- Finally, what’s your take on the Harmanpreet Kaur dismissal. The debate still rages on. One thing is for certain. Had she not got out in that manner India could have won.
Michael- If the bat didn’t get stuck then she would have been in. But that happens in a game. If that run out didn’t happen then Australia would have found it difficult to make a comeback. Worst luck at the worst time for Harmanpreet.”