He loves biryani, grew up playing Indian cricketers and at the moment, he’s busy embracing Indian culture. No he’s not Indian, but an ex-Aussie cricket captain. Michael Clarke was in the city for Meet & Greet Michael Clarke at Fanattic Sports Museum in association with t2, where Sourav Ganguly launched the 2015 World Cup-winning captain’s autobiography My Story at the Fanattic Sports Museum, Ecospace, on March 14. t2 caught up with ‘Pup’ for a sporty chat.
Driving around India in an auto to playing Holi, you really look like you’re enjoying life after retirement!
(Laughs) Look I’ve had a great time in India. It’s always nice to come back here. This is the first time I’m here on my own and not with the Australian cricket team. It’s the first time I’ve gotten a chance to experience Indian culture, which I’ve really embraced. I’ve always loved coming here, but this has been extra-special to get out and see some of the tourist sites in different parts of India... it’s been great.
From starting out in Australia’s golden generation to having to rebuild completely, what was the journey like?
I loved my career. I was very lucky to play with so many great players and learn from them. And as my role changed from the ‘Pup’ in the team to taking over captaincy, I tried to utilise that experience and knowledge that I learnt from those senior players and put it in my leadership.
I think I played the game at a wonderful time. I got to play with some legends and also against some great players. Sourav (Ganguly) is here today… Sachin (Tendulkar), (VVS) Laxman, (Virender) Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan (Singh), Anil Kumble.... I’ve played against so many great players. I’ve been very fortunate.
We always talk about how Aussie captains have it slightly easy because of the abundance of talent in the team. But it must have been tough handling so many big personalities?
Australian captains have it easy you reckon? (Smiles) We only have 23 million people, you have much more!
Look, I think every captain’s challenge is to have your own style, and do it your own way. It’s probably one of the things Steve Smith is facing right now. He’s working out what his style is and how he can captain this team the best possible way. He’s got to back himself. He has done a great job so far. So has Virat Kohli, even though his style is different from MS Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly. But they’ve all been very successful. It’s all about finding your own style.
You mentioned two of India’s greatest captains. So did you personally enjoy playing against India?
I loved it. I grew up as a kid watching India play and Neil D’Costa, my batting coach who I started with from when I was seven, was born in India. My first first-class game for New South Wales at Sydney Cricket Ground was against India, my first Test match was against India in Bangalore and my highest score in Test cricket (329 not out at the SCG) was against India.
India has been there in my heart since I was a young boy. I always loved the challenge of playing against them, whether that was in Australia or coming here and playing.
SUPER OVER WITH CLARKE
Fave movie: There are so many. The Hangover, that’s a good movie. I love comedies.
Fave actor and actress: Denzel Washington, and any Australian actress.
Favourite song: I love music. Favourite song would be anything on the radio. Anything apart from heavy metal.
Bowlers who gave you nightmares: I found a lot of them very difficult. Harbhajan (Singh) was tough, (Anil) Kumble was tough. Zaheer Khan, very good reverse swing bowler. Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn... they are all very good.
Fave Indian food: I love biryani!
Favourite stadium in India: M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore.
We all remember that 128 you scored at Adelaide against India, where you played with that back injury. What kept you going through the pain?
Well, it was right after one of my good mates passed away. It was a really tough time to be honest. It was one of the things that brought me very close to Virat Kohli. The way he turned up to Phillip’s (Hughes) funeral and showed the respect to his family, that really impressed me about Virat.
I guess I saw my role as captain of the Australian team was to get the boys back onto the field and once we did that I just wanted to win the Test match for Phillip. Fortunately we found a way to get Virat Kohli out in the second innings (smiles) and we won that match. So yeah, that was probably the most special 100 I ever scored.
Do you think you retired a little early? You’re still just 35!
It’s funny I had lunch with Sourav at his house today and we were talking about that. He is 44 now and he was telling me ‘you’re 35, you’re still so young’.
But I feel I retired at the right time and for a number of reasons, you know. I had a lot of stuff… my mind, my body, my family, the Australian team, what happened with Phillip.... all of it combined it was the right decision. I’m really thankful and grateful for what cricket has given me. I believe I owe the game a lot. I don’t know where I’d be without it. I was lucky enough to play international cricket for 13 years.
So at which point of your 13-year-journey in international cricket did you decide on telling the world your story?
My daughter was six months old and I said to my wife ‘look, if something was to happen to me now and I passed away then my daughter would have no idea who her father was’. I said I’m going to write a book and someday if I’m not there, she’d at least know who exactly her father is, what I represent, what my values are. So the book is not just about cricket, it’s about my whole life. That was the main reason for doing it.
Were you apprehensive about how some people you wrote about in your book would react?
(Shakes his head) My personality has always been ‘be honest’, you know. If you’re honest, some people are going to like it, some people aren’t. But they’re going to respect it because it’s my truth. It’s my story, it’s how I feel.
There’s always two sides to every story and I’m sure other people have a different take on things. But it’s my book, I’m really proud of it. I think I was very self-critical. If I was having a go at anybody, I had a go at myself more than anybody else. I’m very proud of it.
Finally, how quick is Kelsey, your daughter, growing up! Are you a strict dad?
Yeah, my little girl is 16 months now! I’m not a strict father, my wife (Kyly) is stricter than I am. I will be more disciplined with her as she grows up but right now I just spoil her. I miss her a lot. I FaceTime her every day. A lot of the times twice a day! I just love spending time with her. She’s so young. I love waking her up in her room just to see that smile on her face. It’s the simple things of life that you miss.
