Former Australia captain Michael Clarke has backed India to win the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy, slated to get underway in Pakistan and Dubai on February 19. In fact, Clarke shockingly, by his own admission, feels India will beat Australia in the final of the tournament. However, Clarke hoped that Australia can somehow prove him wrong, in what would be a repeat of the 2023 ODI World Cup final. Australia, in front of packed crowd in Ahmedabad, broke Indian hearts to win their fifth ODI World Cup title.

During a recent interaction, Clarke admitted that India are the team to beat, but hoped that his former side can add another ICC title to their cabinet.

“My fingers are crossed for Australia, so I am going to say Australia is going to be one of them, and I think they are going to play India in the final. (Repeat of the 2023 ODI World Cup final) that’s what I am hoping for,” Clarke said on Beyond23 Cricket Podcast.

“You know what, I think India is going to beat Australia in the final. Can’t believe that just came out of my mouth. I think India is going to win the tournament. I am going with them,” added Clarke, who was part of Australia’s Champions Trophy winning side in 2006.

Clarke also picked India captain Rohit Sharma to finish the tournament as the leading run-getter. 

“Well, I’m saying India is going to win, so I’m going with their captain who’s back in form. I’m going to say Rohit Sharma will be the leading run-scorer in the tournament. Wouldn’t it be great to see him back in wonderful form? It’s good to see him making runs again. Absolutely, I think India needs him for sure,” Clarke said.

As far as the leading wicket-taker is concerned, Clarke took England pacer Jofra Archer‘s name. 

“Wow, most wickets? Well, when we did the PSL last year, it didn’t spin that much; the wickets were slow. I’m going to go with a fast bowler. I’ll pick Jofra Archer as the leading wicket-taker. I know England might not do that well, but I think he’s a superstar. Jofra is going to be really hard to play, so I’m going to have him as my leading wicket-taker.”

As for the ‘Player of the tournament,’ Clarke added: “If it’s between India and Australia, I’m going with Travis Head. His IPL form was phenomenal, his Australian summer Test form was phenomenal, and after a short break in Sri Lanka, he’s ready to go again,” he signed off.

File image of Sam Konstas© AFP

Former Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke at Sydney Cricket Ground. File photo
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

World Cup-winning former captain Michael Clarke has become the 64th player to be inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame, the sport’s governing body in the country announced on Thursday (January 23, 2024)

The induction ceremony took place at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday (January 22, 2024).

“Over 8600 Test runs, 28 hundreds and the only cricketer to hit a Test triple-century on the SCG.

“Congratulations to former Australian captain Michael Clarke AO on his induction to the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame,” wrote Cricket Australia on X.

In his 12-year career, Clarke piled on the runs in Tests and ODIs, aggregating 8643 and 7981 respectively, at an average of 49.10 and 44.58.

He reserved his best for the longest format in which he amassed 28 hundreds including a memorable 329 against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Clarke had above 56 average against India, England

He played as many as 35 Tests against England and 22 against India, averaging more than 56 against both the top teams with seven hundreds apiece.

The 43-year-old captained Australia to a 5-0 series win the 2013-2014 Ashes and also the ODI World Cup triumph at home in 2015.

“To be able to sit along so many wonderful players, idols, role models growing up as a kid and looking up to is something I’m honoured by,” Clarke said at the SCG during the induction ceremony.

Clarke also earned widespread appreciation for the manner in which he steered the team after young opener Phil Hughes died in 2014 while playing a domestic match, leaving Australian cricket in a state of shock.

The two played for New South Wales in the domestic circuit and were best friends.

Clarke was the Australian captain when Hughes died after being struck on the neck by a bouncer during a Sheffield Shield match in Sydney. A shattered Clarke was one of Hughes’ pall-bearers during the funeral and sobbed through a stirring eulogy for the departed player.

Days later, he scored his 28th Test hundred in the first Test of a series against India in Adelaide and dedicated it to his “little brother”. Clarke retired from cricket in 2015 after the Ashes series against England.

“Retirement does a lot of things to you. Through stages of watching cricket now, you miss parts. When you play at the highest level, people talk about your international career but for me, it started at six years of age. I retired at 34 so it was my life. It’s still a part of my life.

“Cricket – it’s probably so similar to life in general. You walk out and make 100 and then lift the bat, and then you walk out to field, field in slip and drop a catch second ball of the game,” he reflected at the SCG on Wednesday.

After Australia completed a 3-1 win over India in the 2024-25 Border Gavaskar Trophy in Sydney on Sunday, controversy followed. The legendary Sunil Gavaskar expressed his displeasure after not being invited to present the trophy, named after him and Allan Border, to Australia following their win over India in the high-voltage five-match rubber. Australia reclaimed the Border-Gavaskar trophy after 10 years with a six-wicket win over India in the fifth and final Test. Border presented the trophy to the home team but Gavaskar, despite being at the venue at the same time, was inexplicably ignored.

“I certainly would have loved to have been there for the presentation. After all it is the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and it is about Australia and India,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying by Code Sports.

“I mean, I am here on the ground. To me it should not matter that Australia won when it comes to the presentation. They played better cricket so they won. That’s fine.

“Just because I am an Indian. I would have been happy to present the trophy with my good friend Allan Border,” he added.

Now, Cricket Australia has been slammed by Michael Clarke, Australia’s 2015 World Cup-winning captain.

“I just think Cricket Australia missed a trick. Now I know a lot of people don’t know that it was planned before the series started, that if India were to win, Sunil Gavaskar would present the trophy. If Australia were to win, Alan Border would present the trophy. So it wasn’t a surprise to those two guys. But to me, it just doesn’t make sense. Like, they’re both there,” Michael Clarke said on ESPN’s Around The Wicket.

“No matter who won, in my opinion, they both should have walked out, they both should have been on stage, they both should have presented the trophy. I think we’re very lucky to have both Allan Border and Sunny Gavaskar in the country commentating at the right time. You don’t get that very often. Both legends of the game that the trophy is named are still around and are in the country at the same time. So I just think we missed a trick there. I think it sounds to me that, you know, it obviously affected, it offended Sunny as well, and I can understand why. I think they both should have been on that stage presenting that trophy no matter who won.” 

File image of Jasprit Bumrah.© AFP

Former Australia captain Michael Clarke has hailed Jasprit Bumrah as the greatest fast bowler across all formats after the Indian spearhead delivered a sensational Player of the Series performance in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Bumrah was a standout performer in the series, claiming 32 wickets at an average of 13.06 and his devastating bolwing left Australia reeling in multiple occasions in the series. The India pacer’s 32 wickets in the series brought him tantalisingly close to breaking Sydney Barnes’ 1911-12 record of 34 wickets in a series by a touring pace bowler in Australia. However, his injury in the SCG Test prevented him from equalling or surpassing the historic feat.

“The thing I’ve thought about Bumrah, after the series finished and I was sitting and thinking about his performances, I actually think he’s the best fast bowler ever across all three formats,” Clarke said on ESPN’s Around the Wicket.

“I know a lot of great fast bowlers, Curtly Ambrose, Glenn McGrath, didn’t get to play T20 cricket, so I’m not talking about those guys, but in regards to anyone who has played all three formats, I think he might be the best ever. He’s actually that good in any conditions, that’s what makes him great; any conditions, any format, this guy’s a freak,” he said.

Bumrah dominated Australia with remarkable performances, including eight wickets in Perth, a six-wicket haul at the Gabba, and a game-changing burst at the MCG. At the SCG, he dismissed Khawaja and Labuschagne early but bowled just one over after lunch on Day 2 with the match finely poised.

“I reckon India were probably 20 runs short (in Sydney). With Bumrah in the team, I think India are home. I think Bumrah is that good… he’s so much better than the other bowlers they had in the team,” Clarke added.

Australia’s former captain Aaron Finch credited Bumrah’s injury to hosts deliberate strategy of wearing him down. “Australia were prepared to play the long game with Jasprit Bumrah. They wanted to make him bowl over and over and over, make him come back for one more spell, bowl another three, four, five (more) overs and in the end, it worked, they broke him in the end. They played that long game, they won,” he said.

Finch feels that Bumrah’s presence in the final innings of the SCG Test might have made Australia’s chase far more challenging.

“Had he bowled in the last innings in Sydney, would Australia have got over the line? Think they still just get over the line, but it would have been a lot more difficult than it was,” said Finch.

Former Australia captain Michael Clarke says India skipper Rohit Sharma has earned the right to walk away from Test cricket on his own terms notwithstanding his barren run with the bat Down Under. Pressure has been gradually building on Rohit who is yet to play a knock of significance in the three Tests he has played so far in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Another stalwart in the team, Virat Kohli, is also facing the heat for repeatedly falling to balls outside the off-stump in the series. “You see that with a number of players — to some people the captaincy helps for others it doesn’t. I certainly think he’ll plat at Sydney. I don’t think they’ll drop him. I think Rohit has earned the right and he’s captain. When you are captain you get a little more leeway as well,” Clarke told ESPN ahead of the fifth Test beginning on Friday.

“But those numbers don’t read great. But they’ll allow Rohit to walk away on his own terms. No idea if Sydney will be his last Test. I’m not sure what he is thinking, or what India’s got coming up Test cricket wise.

“I’m not sure how Rohit feels captaincy wise.. he’s just had his second child so who knows what’s going to happen there but I’ll imagine he will certainly play in Sydney,” he added.

Rohit averages 30.58 as captain but before that he scored runs at an average of 46.87.

Another former Australia captain Aaron Finch also weighed in on the debate.

“The alarming thing for me is how well they played under Bumrah’s captaincy in Perth (in first Test) and they have come back here and looks like an unsettled line up since Rohit’s come back in. But he’s still a great player, he’s a beautiful player to watch and I hope he gets some runs,” said Finch.

Reddy a genius, must bat six

Clarke also feels that Nitish Kumar Reddy must bat higher up the order after smashing a hundred at number 8 at the MCG.

“Reddy, this young kid batting at number eight, is a genius. I think he has definitely got to bat seven if not six. He has been India’s leading run-scorer, 21 years of age, unbelievable. He has been underrated in the entire series,” Clarke told Beyond 23 Cricket Podcast.

“He has impressed everyone. He has not feared any Australian bowler. He has been patient when he has needed to be patient. He has batted with the tail extremely well. He has shown his intent. He bats, bowls and fields. This guy is a very good find for the Indian cricket team.

“I think he is good enough to bat at number six. So what a great option for India going into the last Test match,” Clarke added.

The shoulder-barging incident between India stalwart Virat Kohli and 19-year-old Australia opener Sam Konstas was an ugly episode in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. It was an incident that divided opinion regarding who was at fault, how bad the punishment should be, and even led to Kohli being portrayed as a “clown” by Australian media. However, looking back on it, former Australia captain Michael Clarke has speculated on what may have been the reason that caused Kohli to clash with Konstas during the game. Clarke also made a statement on Kohli’s character.

“I think Virat was getting frustrated with the lack of respect that Sam was showing the best bowler in the world in (Jasprit) Bumrah. I think that’s what frustrated Virat. I think it was him sticking up for his team,” said Clarke, speaking on the Beyond 23 Cricket Podcast.

“Virat, such a senior player. Tough, aggressive cricketer on the field – will not take a backward step, never has through his whole career,” Clarke added.

On debut, Konstas had not shied away from the danger posed by Bumrah. The rookie smashed Bumrah for 14 and 18 in two overs early on, including reverse-scooping him for six. It was between those two overs that the shoulder clash between him and Kohli happened.

Ultimately, Konstas played a superb knock of 60 off 65 balls to get Australia off to the perfect start in the Boxing Day Test.

Clarke, however, reiterated that Kohli is a “great guy” who would’ve sorted the issue out after the game.

“I know Virat as well, he would have spoken to Sam after the game. Virat’s a great guy. So those two would have sorted it out. I don’t know (if) Virat would have said sorry, whatever it was. Virat is not a nasty person. So that would be fixed 100%,” Clarke said.

For the incident, Kohli was fined 20 per cent of his match fees, as well as handed one demerit point by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Michael Clarke has backed India skipper Rohit Sharma amid criticism over his form.© AFP

Michael Clarke suggested that the century in Perth will boost Virat Kohli’s confidence.© AFP