We don’t give up: Clarke
9 March 2013 1:24 AM GMT
Visiting skipper Michael Clarke on Friday vowed to make a strong comeback in the remaining two Tests, despite abject surrender in the first two games.Trailing by 0-2, Clarke warned India of a possible turnaround in the last two matches in Mohali (Mar 14-18) and Delhi (Mar 22-26). ‘It is not in our nature to give up without a fight. We have every chance of making a comeback and levelling the series 2-2. We feel if we win one we can win two,’ an optimistic Clarke said about his team’s chances.
‘We have to win the next two Tests to level the series and that is our main focus. But obviously it is going to be tough as India are playing really good cricket at the moment,’ he added.
After losing the opening Test in Chennai by eight wickets, the visitors slumped to another morale-crushing defeat when India humiliated them by an innings and 35 runs in the second Test in Hyderabad. And the Australian skipper was modest in admitting that India were by far the better side on display in the opening two Tests. ‘No excuses for the defeats. We were outplayed in all facets of the game, batting, bowling and fielding. The credit must go to India. But we need to improve as team,’ Clarke said.
‘We have learnt from our mistakes in the first two games, and I feel we still have plenty of time to correct our flaws before the next game,’ he insisted. Clarke admitted that the touring Australia squad lacks experience when it comes to playing in tough Indian conditions.‘Only four players of the current team has experience of playing Test matches in India. The conditions are tough and demanding in India. The culture, food, pitches, weather everything is different, but I guess that is the beauty of cricket. It is lot easier to play in your own backyard but that’s what international cricket is all about,’ Clarke added.
Clarke refused to poke his nose into Virender Sehwag’s axing from the Indian squad for the remaining Tests, but said the veteran opener has a lot of cricket still left in him to make a comeback into the national side. ‘To be honest, I am not too much focussed on the Indian team. That’s upto the Indian selectors and the team management. Virender has been a fantastic player for India in all three formats of the game. And I am confident, that he will be back,’ he said when asked about Sehwag.
WE HAVE TO BE MORE AGGRESSIVE: WADE
The Australian cricketers behaved like ‘sitting ducks’ in the opening two Test losses against India, said wicket-keeper Matthew Wade as he called on his teammates to be more aggressive and take some load off skipper Michael Clarke.
‘We’re just sitting ducks. We’ve got to try to be a little bit more aggressive and put the pressure back on their bowlers. We might have to be a little bit more aggressive at times to get India to do something different because if they get into a rhythm and just bowl dot after dot, the game’s not going anywhere for us,’ he was quoted as saying by the Australian media.
Wade further said the Aussies need to take some pressure off Clarke in the remaining two Tests. The third Test is scheduled to be played in Mohali from March 14. ‘No doubt. Michael has had to score a truckload of runs for us. I felt very disappointed when I got out in (the second) Test match. We’d put on nearly 150 runs and we were both really going. If I could have hung around with him, it could have been endless,’ Wade said.
‘We have to win the next two Tests to level the series and that is our main focus. But obviously it is going to be tough as India are playing really good cricket at the moment,’ he added.
After losing the opening Test in Chennai by eight wickets, the visitors slumped to another morale-crushing defeat when India humiliated them by an innings and 35 runs in the second Test in Hyderabad. And the Australian skipper was modest in admitting that India were by far the better side on display in the opening two Tests. ‘No excuses for the defeats. We were outplayed in all facets of the game, batting, bowling and fielding. The credit must go to India. But we need to improve as team,’ Clarke said.
‘We have learnt from our mistakes in the first two games, and I feel we still have plenty of time to correct our flaws before the next game,’ he insisted. Clarke admitted that the touring Australia squad lacks experience when it comes to playing in tough Indian conditions.‘Only four players of the current team has experience of playing Test matches in India. The conditions are tough and demanding in India. The culture, food, pitches, weather everything is different, but I guess that is the beauty of cricket. It is lot easier to play in your own backyard but that’s what international cricket is all about,’ Clarke added.
Clarke refused to poke his nose into Virender Sehwag’s axing from the Indian squad for the remaining Tests, but said the veteran opener has a lot of cricket still left in him to make a comeback into the national side. ‘To be honest, I am not too much focussed on the Indian team. That’s upto the Indian selectors and the team management. Virender has been a fantastic player for India in all three formats of the game. And I am confident, that he will be back,’ he said when asked about Sehwag.
WE HAVE TO BE MORE AGGRESSIVE: WADE
The Australian cricketers behaved like ‘sitting ducks’ in the opening two Test losses against India, said wicket-keeper Matthew Wade as he called on his teammates to be more aggressive and take some load off skipper Michael Clarke.
‘We’re just sitting ducks. We’ve got to try to be a little bit more aggressive and put the pressure back on their bowlers. We might have to be a little bit more aggressive at times to get India to do something different because if they get into a rhythm and just bowl dot after dot, the game’s not going anywhere for us,’ he was quoted as saying by the Australian media.
Wade further said the Aussies need to take some pressure off Clarke in the remaining two Tests. The third Test is scheduled to be played in Mohali from March 14. ‘No doubt. Michael has had to score a truckload of runs for us. I felt very disappointed when I got out in (the second) Test match. We’d put on nearly 150 runs and we were both really going. If I could have hung around with him, it could have been endless,’ Wade said.
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