You need courage to stick to your plans: Michael Clarke

balls to be little bit slower. Whether it reverses or not, you still have the natural variations. Hopefully with reverse swing, we got the ammunition to be able to execute that."

For Clarke, there is no use trying to imitate someone else's style of play and develop one's own style. "To me, it is no good to me, personally bat like Damien Martyn or Ricky Pointing since it is not going to help to have success. I am going to play the way I play my best cricket. The same regards to the team. It is no good that we pick the same team as India. We have a different team to England or South Africa." Asked about spin cover for Lyon, he answered,"We have an advantage in conditions where we think that fast bowling will play a part. But on the other hand we do have our balance in Nathan Lyon and David Warner is bowling lot of leg spins in the nets and I can bowl some left arm orthodox as well."

Veteran pacer Mitchell Johnson has not been included in the playing XI but Clarke defended the decision. "When selecting your team, you have to pick the best attack and not the best individual bowlers, who perhaps gets selected always. We have picked a team that will have success under the available conditions here. That is the main reason and it certainly not personal or individual player is fighting against each other and trying to get in the XI." On the strategy that his batsmen will employ, Clarke quipped,"I think you have team plans with regard to communicate and talk about opposition bowlers. The key to batting is partnerships and we do have team plans and I think individually you are going to have your own plan regards especially to how you start your innings. "For me, as a captain it is about acknowledging that and accepting that in putting faith in the other player or roll back and support them."

... contd.

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