Michael Clarke nurses his sore back in New Delhi last night. Picture: Peter Lalor Source: News Limited
SHANE Watson has the unequivocal support of Michael Clarke to lead Australia into the fourth Test today if the skipper is forced to withdraw because of his back injury.
Clarke failed to join the squad for training last night, and indications are that Watson will captain the team. "I've said Shane has my full support as vice-captain of the team if he's appointed captain," Clarke said, reflecting the mood in Canberra yesterday.
There is debate swirling around whether Watson is the right choice after he - in the heat of the moment - questioned his future in the game over not being included in the third Test.
Clarke and the team are holed up in the leafy embassy enclave of New Delhi at a hotel where leaders of state and their harassed retinue of ministers and officials rush about in cavalcades of diplomatic excess. Cricket can be almost as political, and the captain is offering his deputy the sort of endorsement that is announced with fixed gaze in Delhi's Connaught Place, and in Canberra.
"He has my full support, there's no doubt about that. Shane, like the rest of the players (who) missed the last Test match," he said.
"If he was available for the Test he would have played. He was made unavailable and that's why he spoke to his wife and flew home for the birth of his first child. It worked out nicely but he would have stayed and played the Test match and missed the birth if he was available.
"I think Shane like the other three players have served their sentence in missing that game. He's 100 per cent available for this Test match and at this stage ... he's our vice-captain and in my opinion if the board and selectors appoint him as captain he has my 100 per cent full support."
Watson's appointment as captain for the fourth Test would have to be approved by the board but Cricket Australia said last night this could be arranged at any time.
With Australia 3-0 down in the series and the squad rocked by the exclusion of four players from selection ahead of the Mohali match, there have been questions asked of coach and captain.
"I think I'm under that scrutiny every day of my life," Clarke said. "I think as a team the captain is always held accountable. I think that's fair enough as well.
"When we're not playing great cricket the leader in the group needs to be accountable. I understand that. It's probably why I get disappointed when we don't perform as well as we can, because I know we've got the talent to do it. It's probably why I get so disappointed when I don't perform as well as I'd like personally as well, because I want to help contribute to this team and have success."
Clarke's back requires constant maintenance and he was in great pain for the last two days of the Mohali Test.
"It's a combination of things, my back gets irritated when I'm in flexion and I rotate, so I hurt it the other day doing fielding, sprinting for a ball, picking it up one day and throwing it off balance, which is exactly the opposite to what my back likes, but I've done that a number of times throughout my career," he said. "Sometimes with degeneration of the disc, it can flare up, but I will manage it as well as I can. I'm very grateful for the people around, especially Alex Kountouris (team physio) and my physio when I'm back in Sydney to keep me on the park."
Clarke dropped down to six in Mohali and lasted 49 minutes at the crease but admitted that the injury restricted his batting.
"I was in a bit of pain. Unfortunately the painkillers wore off," he said. "It was very uncomfortable and it impacted my performance, in regards to not the number of runs I made but the movement; I felt I couldn't move down the wicket because I was so restricted and I'd hate to see what the fielding side of it looked like.
"It's slowly improving. If you ask Alex or the team doctor they might have a different impression but hopefully a good day today, plenty of treatment, and I wake up in the morning, feel magnificent and I walk out and play another Test match for Australia."
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