Michael Clarke admits it was “different” to watch Australia slip below Ireland on the ICC’s Twenty20 rankings, but is confident the side can bounce back at the upcoming T20 showpiece in Sri Lanka.
Clarke, who retired from international T20 cricket at the start of 2011, woke in the early hours of the morning to watch Australia’s three recent T20 clashes with Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.
The first two times it wasn’t much fun.
Australia posted their second-lowest total of 89 in the first and were last-gasp `super over’ losers in the second.
“Where are we ranked now?” Clarke asked journalists at NSW’s season launch on Thursday.
A 94-run victory over Pakistan in the dead rubber helped lift Australia from 10th to ninth – and back above Ireland – but it’s still a long way from where they want to be.
“Hopefully we’re not ranked there by the end of the World Cup,” Clarke said ahead of the one major tournament Australia have failed to win.
“It’s different for the Australian team (to be ranked so low), but I guess it shows we haven’t performed as well as we need to in that form of the game.
“We need to turn that around, and what better time than at the World Cup.”
Clarke is confident the squad can go one better than their seven-wicket loss to England in the 2010 final.
“I think we can win the Twenty20 World Cup,” he said.
“We’ve got the talent and we showed that in the last game against Pakistan in the UAE, and I think we’ve showed it in patches over the last couple of years.”
Clarke had no regrets about his decision to stop leading Australia in cricket’s shortest format.
“I’ve been on the phone to (coach) Mickey Arthur, (T20 captain) George (Bailey) and (vice-captain) Shane Watson. I’m supporting as closely as I possibly can,” he said.
“(But) I’m really focused on trying to get my head back around Test cricket.”
Australia’s World T20 campaign starts with a match against Ireland on September 19.
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