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Clarke seems nearly guaranteed to make full recovery for Oz's WC campaign

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ANI Sydney

Australian cricket team captain Michael Clarke seems nearly guaranteed to make an absolute recovery for the World Cup as he ran around like a teenager and even took time off to pose for selfies with fans during a practise game.

Clarke's official fitness test is yet to come but it looks sure that he would captain Australia in the World Cup after he did everything but wicketkeeping against Bangladesh at Allan Border Field in Brisbane.

While fielding on the boundary he also happily posed for selfies for fans, as his promising bid to be fit for the Cup cleared its biggest hurdle yet, News.com.au reported.

 

Clarke opened the batting, took a sharp slips catch and even rolled his arm over for a couple of overs of spin to prove that his dodgy hamstring is coming along fine.

Selectors have told Clarke that he must be fit to bowl spin in the Cup, so that is another box he has ticked, despite looking slightly wooden with his left-arm orthodox.

Clarke said he had pulled up fine and was on track to play in an official World Cup warm-up match for Australia against the UAE at the MCG next Wednesday.

Clarke said that there is a practice game against India in Adelaide, which at this stage he doesn't believe he is playing. He added that at this stage the plan is for him to join the boys in Adelaide, fly with the boys to Melbourne and play the practice match against UAE.

Clarke said that he had pulled up well from the practice match against Bangladesh and revealed that he had been bowling spin in the nets for three weeks, as being able to bowl was a key requirement of proving his World Cup fitness.

Clarke claimed that he would have liked a few more runs but the body feels good and added that he has pulled up pretty well.

After Australia's XI bowled Bangladesh out for 193, Clarke was sent in to open and made 34 off 36 balls. He played few false shots and hit six fours before he was caught behind off the first over of spin he faced from Shabbir Rahman, the report added.

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First Published: Feb 05 2015 | 2:40 PM IST

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