Hard work paying off, says Clarke
Australian skipper hopes wicket will deteriorate on the third day
After sharing a massive partnership with Ricky Ponting, Australian skipper Michael Clarke said he enjoyed batting with his predecessor.
“It's always nice to see us both scoring runs when we bat together. We've known each other for a long time, played a lot of cricket together. Both of us were disappointed with our series last summer. We've worked hard on our games to improve.
“We know each other's games quite well so we can certainly communicate to what we're seeing, if we feel like we can help. We speak a lot when we bat about what the other person has seen, to get help and advice and to keep both of us going and this innings was no different,” Clarke told reporters here on Wednesday.
Clarke attributed his and Ponting’s success in this series to a hard work and confidence in ability.
“For Ricky and I to have individual performances and team performance like this, it's why you train so hard. It's very satisfying. It's about enjoying the good times and when you're not doing so well it's important to continue to work hard and have the confidence in your own ability that things are going to turn around for you,” he added.
The New South Welshman said he wouldn’t show any leniency to Sachin Tendulkar since the series is already won. "No, I certainly won't be showing him any sympathy. We're there to win the game. He's a wonderful player and it's going to be really tough to get him out on that wicket. But somehow we're going to have to find a way to do it twice," said Clarke.
On the timing of the declaration, Clarke said, "It was probably more about the runs to be honest. Trying to get to 600, and we still had plenty of time left in the day, which was probably most pleasing.
To take those two crucial wickets today is a really good start for us. But there's still a lot of work to be done."
However, Clarke said Australia have a lot of work to do in the coming days. “Hopefully, we'll see some deterioration, especially in the back half of day four and five. Tomorrow, it's going to be pretty nice to bat. A couple of balls stayed a little bit low. The bowlers are going to have to bowl well and we're going to have to hang on to every chance in the field,” he said.
