Melbourne, Dec 17 (ANI): Australian captain Michael Clarke has said that the batting camp before the Boxing Day Test against India is a positive initiative, which will give all batters a chance to come together and prepare really well.
"We're going to Melbourne a couple of days early to train as a batting unit and to talk about our plans against India's bowlers. Obviously, it doesn't guarantee anything but it shows we're going to do everything in our power to improve. I'm confident we can make amends against India," Clarke wrote in his column for 'The Daily Telegraph'.
He said that the Australians have been going "one step forward and two steps backwards" in the rebuilding process.
"All of us feel we're playing inconsistent cricket at the moment. We're showing so many great signs when we're playing well, but then we have episodes like Cape Town (shot out for 47) and the second innings against New Zealand at Bellerive that let us down," he said.
Clarke said the Border-Gavaskar series gives Australia an excellent chance to start moving in the right direction to regain the No.1 spot in Tests.
Talking about the Indian challenge, he said: "The Indians are a very strong team currently ranked second in the world on the ICC Test ladder behind England. In Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag (to name a few) they have a lot of batting experience, knowledge and runs.
"But their bowling lacks experience and they're dealing with injuries as well. They'll have concerns there. Zaheer Khan is a big player for them. I think it's going to be a really good contest between youth and enthusiasm versus some old wise heads in the India team."
Clarke also assured that there'll be no repeat of the unpleasantness like monkeygate that happened last time Australia played India in a Test series at home. (ANI)
|
|
Comments:
