Former Australian skipper, Michael Clarke, has voiced his concerns over Australia's subpar performance in the early stages of the 2023 World Cup. After facing a devastating loss to South Africa in Lucknow's Ekana Stadium, the team's readiness for the high-profile tournament is under scrutiny.
The recent match saw the Aussies face a commanding target of 312 runs from South Africa, a challenge that proved insurmountable. Falling short by a significant margin, Australia managed only 177 runs in 40.5 overs, translating to a humbling defeat by 134 runs, their largest World Cup loss ever.
This wasn't the team's sole disappointment. The World Cup campaign began on a sedate note, with a six-wicket defeat to India.
Sharing his views on Sky Sports Radio's Big Sports Breakfast, as cited by the Daily Mail, Clarke expressed his apprehensions about Australia's prospects, especially against formidable sub-continent teams. He warned that another performance mirroring the first two games could spell doom for the five-time World Cup champions, possibly thwarting their journey to the semi-finals.
"Sri Lanka are going to be tough in those conditions. We haven't played Pakistan yet. We've got some really tough cricket ahead of us and if we play like this, we are not qualifying," said Clarke.
"I'm more worried about the sub-continent teams... if we're getting shown up like that against South Africa, the spin in the sub-continent teams... we'll be laughable.
"If we're not careful the conversation we've been having for the last three weeks about the Wallabies, in two weeks' time we'll be having that about Australian cricket," he added.
Clarke, reflecting on recent successes, mentioned that triumphant Ashes and World Test Championship campaigns merely masked the deep-rooted issues plaguing the Australian cricket team. Taking a critical stance on the team's preparations, the former captain emphasized that Australia should have arrived in India at the peak of their game, ready to battle it out on the world stage.
'I'll go back to the Test series in India, our preparation for that tour was disgraceful," Clarke continued
"We are not there at the moment and honestly, no disrespect, but we haven't been for a while.
"The Twenty20 World Cup, that's not OK. We're better than that. It's not OK. Leaving England, levelled series, is not OK. That series was ours for the taking.
"The way we lost to India in India... our preparation for that tournament [was] not OK. Then winning the Test Championship — amazing. So that swept all this other stuff under the carpet. That's not right.
"Now here, our preparation for this World Cup, we won two games out of seven. We had a brilliant lead-in for this World Cup, an awesome amount of cricket, good competitive cricket.
"We should have turned up to India in our prime," he concluded.
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