'Hope I'm proven wrong': Michael Clarke fears for Australia with no scheduled practice match

Former captain Michael Clarke on Tuesday lashed out at the Australian team's 'no tour game policy' for the upcoming Test series against India, saying that he doesn't understand why they have opted against playing a practice match to prepare for the tricky Indian conditions. Australia's Test team will fly to India next week, giving them just a few days to prepare before the Border-Gavaskar series, which gets underway on February 9 in Nagpur.

Combatting spin will be a challenge

"That's the part I don't understand. The no tour game before the first Test in India. I hope I'm proven wrong but I think that is going to be significant," Fox Sports quoted Clarke as saying on the Big Sports Breakfast.

"Batting in those conditions in one-day cricket and T20 cricket is one thing, batting in Indian conditions in Test cricket it is a completely different game.

"You need a completely different plan to what you have playing in Australia, the way you start your innings against spin bowling, the way you play reverse swing, through the Australian summer we didn't see any reverse swing, the games were over in two, three days.

"So reverse swing is going to play a big part (in India), all these batters that walk out and play bowlers bowling 130-140ks - there's every chance India is going to play at least two spinners, so it's a completely different game."

Batters need to adapt quickly

Clarke added that it would be difficult for Australia's batters to start the innings if they didn't spend enough time in Indian conditions.

"You need to bat in the best possible conditions (in India) because after that, if you haven't grown up playing in those conditions, man it's extremely difficult to start your innings," Clarke said on Tuesday.

"And if you get in you need to go on and make a big score. A ball that you go forward to and block in Australia can be easy against spin, but over there (India) it can roll along the ground, bounce and take your glove.

"You can go to block it outside off and it bowls you leg stump, natural variation over there is massive," he added.