'Pup' Clarke redefines Aussie ruthlessness

[PaiN_KiLLeR]

Andrew Symonds’s tiff with Michael Clarke, Ricky Ponting’s heir apparent, has cost him his place in the Australia squad for the four-Test series against India starting next month. Symonds has been served the proverbial finger bowl after his fishing expedition at the expense of a crucial team meeting during the series against Bangladesh in Darwin recently. Never take any opposition lightly, the poor coaches keep drilling it in the heads, and Symonds, not known to think on his feet, may have just learned the golden adage the hard way. We’re not sure how the Board of Control for Cricket has reacted to the news. But we’ll not be way off the mark to imagine that a quiet little prayer of thanks was said at the Cricket Centre after the news came in. For obvious reasons. A section of the Australian media has reported Symonds’s brawl with Clarke in a West Indies bar as the genesis of the trouble. Symonds was out drinking with former West Indies captain Brian Lara on the eve of a game, when Clarke, a self-professed paragon of virtue, reminded the brusque all-rounder of his priorities. Souring relations Symonds didn’t like it which resulted in a scrap and souring of relations between the thick of friends. Symonds sacking may be a reasonable ending after his long tryst with misdemeanours and the subsequent covering up by his teammates. But the man who is making his moves count and needs to be watched closely is Clarke. The blonde 27-year-old Sydneysider introduced to world cricket as Pup five years ago, has shown his bite can be far more worse than his bark which the Indian squad got accustomed to on their previous visit. During India’s acrimonious tour of Australia late last year, Clarke wasn’t really up on Indian team’s popularity chart for his win at all cost mannerisms. Such was the bitterness that one senior India cricketer came up with this trivia during an informal chat. “Why is Michael Clarke called Pup?” he asked as we waited to board a flight. After a pregnant pause he said, “because he’s a son of a b****.” :haha: It was surprising. Indian cricketers, barring a couple, are known to respect their opponents and here we had a senior badmouthing a highly talented rival. ‘He’s ruthless’ Lalchand Rajput, who was the coach in charge for the long tour, has just one word to describe Clarke. “He’s ruthless,” says the former India batsman. “Clarke is a street smart cricketer and he will go to any extent for a win and that is why he’s hated in the Indian dressing room.” The spitefulness, it seemed, had started during the Sydney Test where Clarke stood for the umpire to declare him out after edging the ball to Rahul Dravid at first slip. To make matters worse he claimed a dubious catch in the slips when the replays suggested that the ball may have been picked on the bounce. Even during the monkeygate controversy, Clarke was in the forefront, backing his mate Symonds, claiming he had heard Harbhajan Singh utter the M-word even though he was at a fair distance. At Adelaide, Clarke got stuck into Sachin Tendulkar, giving him advises on his career. “Why don’t you take a leaf from Gilly’s book and retire,” Clarke told Tendulkar forcing Virender Sehwag to step in and ask Clarke to “change his nappies” before advising someone of Tendulkar’s stature. The Australians are known to play the hard way and in Clarke they have a leader in waiting, who will further redefine their aggressive brand of cricket even if it comes at the cost of knocking down his best mate in the team. http://www.mumbaimirror.com/net/mmpaper.aspx?page=article&sectid=59&contentid=200809132008091303274899213a49797

[DomainK]

At Adelaide, Clarke got stuck into Sachin Tendulkar, giving him advises on his career. “Why don’t you take a leaf from Gilly’s book and retire,” Clarke told Tendulkar forcing Virender Sehwag to step in and ask Clarke to “change his nappies” before advising someone of Tendulkar’s stature.

Viru rocks.:two_thumbs_up:

[Desi Cartman]

“because he’s a son of a b****.” :winky: well said

[Dinx - the Jinx]

forcing Virender Sehwag to step in and ask Clarke to “change his nappies” before advising someone of Tendulkar’s stature

:hysterical::hysterical::hysterical: i'm getting great nw ideas for placard to dsplay at the blore match... pup - go change ur nappies... excellent frm sehwag