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Business News/ Industry / A tale of two captains
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A tale of two captains

Even if Michael Clarke leads Australia to another World Cup title, he may be sacked. Brendon Mccullum, contrastingly, is already a hero

While Clarke has been a leader in absentia, McCullum has been the marauding general who draws first blood. Photo: ReutersPremium
While Clarke has been a leader in absentia, McCullum has been the marauding general who draws first blood. Photo: Reuters

Melbourne: After the semifinal against India in Sydney, as Michael Clarke thrived in the positive attention that came from leading Australia to a home World Cup final, I summoned up the temerity to ask him how he could any longer justify his place in the side.

Three times in this tournament—against New Zealand, Pakistan and India—his team had needed Clarke to steady the innings and provide a guiding hand. All three times the Australian captain had failed, without even as much as a semblance of a fight. Ricky Ponting has called on Clarke to retire from ODIs after the tournament. In an otherwise successful campaign, questions over Clarke’s place have become a kind of unshakeable ambient noise.

Clarke appeared irritated. “My record’s fine," he replied. “It’s as good as anyone’s." There is no more unmistakable sign of a player in trouble than when he starts falling back on his records. The questions, of course, have not been about Clarke’s record; they have been about his relevance to this side.

Clarke is an old-school one-day batsman, a modern-day successor to Damien Martyn, a player whose classical technique is supposed to provide stability to the power hitters around him. The problem for Clarke is that the game has made that sort of batsman largely redundant. Even Steven Smith, whose job is to be the fulcrum of the Australian innings, has the ability to clear the ropes and move into a different gear. Clarke doesn’t.

This has led to the parallel narratives of team and captain: even as Australia is seeking to claim another World Cup title, Clarke is playing for no less than his ODI career. Nothing less than delivering the World Cup will save his future in the limited-overs game. Given that Australia sacked Steve Waugh, a World Cup winning captain, even that may not be enough.

The contrast with Brendon McCullum could not be starker. While Clarke has been a leader in absentia, McCullum has been the marauding general who draws first blood. More than the runs he scored, the effect of his assault on England and Australia was psychological. A team and nation, which for decades suffered from the sense of inferiority that comes from being a small country at the edge of the world, suddenly began to believe. McCullum has become so revered in New Zealand that even to raise the questions that have assailed Clarke would invite derision. No matter what happens in the final, he is already a legend in his homeland. He has changed the history of New Zealand cricket.

If McCullum drives New Zealand to their first World Cup title, it would simultaneously mean the end of Clarke’s career in coloured clothing. The alternative scenario may be even more bizarre. Even if New Zealand fall at the final hurdle, McCullum and his Black Caps will return home as heroes. On the other hand, even lifting the World Cup may not prevent Clarke from being hustled towards the exit.

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Published: 28 Mar 2015, 12:42 AM IST
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