Michael Clarke will be the next Tendulkar

Michael Clarke is all set to become Australia’s next ODI captain. At present, he is the only batsman apart from Ricky Ponting and occasionally Mike Hussey who looks like they belong to the international stage. Over the next 2-3 years, he will be the only one left. Ponting and Hussey will eventually — sooner than later — retire.

Around Clarke is currently a mediocre collection of domestic players. Fitness apart, they don’t offer much on the field. They are seen to be woefully lacking in some basic skills and unfortunately for them, won’t have a wealth of experience or the ‘winning mindset’ around them like Clarke did when he started out.

As a result, this team can only go from its current worrying state to a confirmed state of worry. A la the West Indies. In such a scenario, Michael Clarke is the man on whose shoulders will rest the burden of the entire Australian team. With a weak back, he may or may not be able to handle that! Who knows. But his situation will be similar to that of Sachin Tendulkar’s until about 3 years ago when his wicket would trigger an astonishing collapse on the field and an exodus in the stands!

The exodus notwithstanding, the collapses are already evident. Only now, they are happening after Ponting’s wicket. But Clarke is set to replace Ponting. So in two ways, now, we can be certain that he is up against it for the next decade of cricket of his international career. If he lasts that long.

Sachin only had weak elbows. His back was is strong!

What, no cheerleaders?

There are a few endearing sights that one can recall from the first week of the ongoing Indian Premier League. All of them are from the field of play:

• Ricky Ponting and Ishant Sharma celebrating the fall of Rahul Dravid’s wicket
• Ricky Ponting running up to Ishant Sharma to give him advise
• Rahul Dravid & Co. running on to the ground to celebrate their win over Mumbai
• Andrew Symonds smacking Shane Warne out of the ground for massive sixes
• Shane Warne smacking Andrew Symonds out of the ground for massive sixes. And winning the match
• Harbhajan Singh trying his very best to win for Mumbai

With the passage of time, the list shall grow. And there will be some that shall remain etched in our minds forever, while other shall fade away with the passage of time. One memory, though, from the field that will remain forever etched is the variety of cheerleaders seen thus far. Take a look:

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