Every “Pup” has his day: Being Captain Australia
He has been enjoying a phenomenal run of form of late. Opponents are now coming to terms with the fact that he is a difficult enigma to crack. Scoring centuries with disdain, and multiple ones at that, against one and all, he is proving to be a far greater headache and ostensibly the centre of much greater attention in the team meetings of hapless opponents scurrying for cover; disproportionate to the attention he had been previously warranted, owing to the otherwise star studded batting line up of the mighty Aussies.
Clarke, always seen and promoted as the natural replacement for Ponting once he decided to hang up his boots, has been a revelation of sorts ever since. He has been quick in establishing a reputation for brave and aggressive captaincy. As Ian Chappel correctly summed it up, “his entertaining approach is based on one premise: trying to win the match from the opening delivery. This should be the aim of all international captains, but sadly it isn’t. Going into the Chennai Test with 4 pacers on what is apparently a rank turner, he seems to be backing his instincts, and is ready to own up for any mishap.
A string of centuries after being handed over the captaincy, and a Bradmanesque 2012 extending into 2013, he has come to redefining what leading from the front means. Becoming the first Australian to score a triple century since Matthew Hayden in 2003, he also now holds the record for the highest individual score at the SCG – a majestic 329* against the Indians, against whom he seems to have taken quite a fancy, following that mighty innings up with a double century at Adelaide. His Test debut (against the Indians at Bangalore) ought to stand testimony to this, announcing his arrival on the big stage with a calculated and selectively aggressive 151, that drew comparisions with Mark Waugh.
Though the current Australian team seems somewhat short of experience, and is devoid of the many individual star performers that one had come to associate Australian cricket with, the rebuilding process under Clarke has been smoother than elsewhere in the world, say in India, where it has been very difficult and murky to say the least. The team seems one packed unit, backing each other up and still seems quite formidable: of the last 15 Test matches, they have lost only two. For a player who was quite unpopular until a few years back, and whose ascendancy to Test captaincy was met with skeptical groans that reverberated throughout Australia, a country known for its fetish with captaincy and where captaincy is the ultimate symbol of manliness; Clarkey presents a case of a boy growing into a man.
The Indian think tank, meanwhile, still seems short of options and ideas when it comes to Clarke, who piled up on his stats against the Indians with yet another century in the first Test of the on-going Border-Gavaskar trophy, even when all others around him seemed clueless against some quality spin bowling. Let’s hope that he is not done yet, that in the next one month, and after that, he has got loads more to offer.
Marriage does seem to have had a ‘lucky charm’ effect on him. Quite an exception there, mate!