Brad Haddin confident of Michael Clarke returning to fitness before 1st Test

Brad Haddin and Michael Clarke

Adelaide, Dec 6 (IANS) Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin is confident captain Michael Clarke will play the first Test against India starting here on Tuesday.

According to Haddin, who will captain the side should Clarke not be declared fit, Clarke was "going in the right direction", and that he had not given a thought to captaining the side. Clarke completed two separate training sessions and Haddin said Clarke had already had "a good hit".

"Michael's been strong for the team for a long time," Haddin was quoted as saying by ESPN Cricinfo.

"I think he's a tremendous captain, and we want our captain out there playing. All signs are that he's going in the right direction, and like everyone else, we want Michael out there leading our team in the first hour of play here in Adelaide."

Australian cricket has attempted to come to terms with the tragic passing of Phillip Hughes, and the return of Clarke, delivered an emotional eulogy at Hughes's funeral on Wednesday in Macksville, would have definitely lifted the team's spirit.

"We just got back to cricket," Haddin said when asked if coming back felt normal. "We can try to complicate it as much as we want, but we went back to cricket training. Everybody did what he needed to do yesterday. We got a bit of volume, and a bit of miles in our legs. We needed to feel that cricket hurt in our legs again. So we got that and yeah it was a good day back training."