Adelaide: On a collision course with Cricket Australia over his fitness, injured skipper Michael Clarke has been reportedly ruled out of the opening Test against India, following his failure to recover well to play in the two-day tour game in Adelaide starting on Friday.
Cricket Australia had made it clear that Clarke will have to play the two-day tour match in Adelaide to prove his fitness for the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar series at Gabba, starting December 4.
However, Clarke, who is recovering from a hamstring injury, on Monday ruled himself out for the Adelaide game but said he is looking forward to play in a Sydney grade match on Saturday to prove his fitness.
According to News Corp Australia, Cricket Australia had released a statement after consulting the medical staff which appeared to have ruled Clarke out of the opening Test if he was unable to play in the India tour game in Adelaide. “If he is not able to get up for the CA XI game, and given his history with this recurring injury, he will be ruled out of any cricket this week and the first Test and our focus will shift to getting him fit to play the second Test”. (PTI)
