Such has been the impact of those two heavy defeats that Clarke openly admitted that he has been left with no choice than to come up the order from his customary No5 position.
A distraught Michael Clarke will promote himself up the order in the remaining two Tests against India, saying his team's "unacceptable" batting performances has left him with no other choice.
Clarke was livid on his team's shambolic performance in the first two matches against India, terming the visitors first innings score of 237 in the second Test which ended here today, as "unacceptable" since the pitch was best for batting on the opening day.
Such has been the impact of those two heavy defeats that Clarke openly admitted that he has been left with no choice than to come up the order from his customary No. 5 position.
"I think I have no choice. Again, it hasn't been about me, it's about trying to do what's best for the team, and I think now, especially in these conditions, I have to bat higher," he said.
"I've got nine days to work it out. Wherever I can go and put some runs on the board to help the team," a visibly dejected Clarke said at the post-match media conference after India crushed Australia by an innings and 135 runs in the second Test to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series.
"Our batting has been unacceptable in the first two Test matches. I'm more concerned about our first innings performances than our second innings, mainly because we won both the tosses and the wicket has been at its best both times to bat but 237 was unacceptable."
The anger was evident in every word that Clarke said.
"I think you know very well what I thought. It's probably more polite of me by not putting it into words. It's obviously unacceptable. Very disappointing. I certainly don't want to take any credit away from India. I thought they played very well, they showed us once again how to bat in these conditions, they showed us once you get in how to go on and cash in and make a big score," he said.
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