Former Australia captain Michael Clarke has supported Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir’s aggressive style in the highly-hyped Border-Gavaskar Trophy. According to Clarke, the competitive edge that has been there by the teamwork by the franchise such as IPL might get revived by the aggressive mentality.
In an interview with ESPNcricinfo, Clarke commented Gambhir’s strategy and connected it to India’s recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy victories. He said India’s victories in the previous two series were mainly because of this mindset, and he hoped Australia will go on to further ignite the intense competition.
“I think it becomes harder these days because you spend more time playing with opposition players. I think when I played or before the IPL, it was a lot easier, you can see each other as much, and you weren’t in the same team. But I think there’s no doubt. I think that’s why India have had success in Australia the last couple of times. I think there’s been a very clear line in the sand from all the players that when they step into this country. There are no friends on the field. Off the field, fine, but on the field, you’re playing for your country. You’re not playing in the same IPL team,” Clarke said.
“I’d like to think Australia will have the same attitude, you know. It’s not what you say. It’s not about sledging, but it’s what you do. It’s your intent, it’s your attitude. It’s having your teammates back when required. So I’d be surprised if Australia weren’t in the same situation. And I think that’ll help make this a great series. I think it’ll be competitive on the field, and you’ll see Australia want to win and so do India,” he added.
