Michael Clarke can be charming and witty, but not always. Unlike the stone-faced Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the highly expressive Australian captain lets the outcome on the field dictate his disposition. So on most match eves, as a rule, he is genial, laughing off at queries about problems facing the team or those haunting him. But after the game, if things don’t go his way, he can be Captain Grumpy

Like he was after the loss to New Zealand, when he blamed the lack of training for Australia’s batting collapse. “I don’t think we have had too many training sessions where we have worked on the start of our game and actually defending the brand new ball or the swinging ball,” he had said.

Clarke might have been stating the truth but it is not a statement that captains of teams with extensive coaching staff usually voice.

This would prove to be the most reproduced quote from that press conference.Today after the net session, a day before the game against Afghanistan, Clarke was asked if his team had changed the way they trained. “We’ve trained really well in preparation for this game. You guys will get no headlines out of me.”

Details aplenty

He wasn’t in a complaining mood. The long Aussie injury list or even the long flight from Auckland to Perth; nothing perturbed him today. He would even give tips to deal with the boredom of being in air for hours.

“Try to sleep when I can. Watch a movie when I can. Get up and walk when I’m sick of watching movies. Eat as much food as possible. Don’t drink alcohol. Yeah, we haven’t gotten the massage tables on the flight at this stage, as good as Qantas are.”

Clarke will need to stick with this pre-match composure and humour to deal with the plateful of problems he is facing. First, the injuries. Pacer Pat Cummins has been ruled out of the Afghanistan game because of injury. This news comes when all-rounder James Faulkner is still on the road to recovery and Steven Smith was struck on the hand while batting in the nets. Luck too hasn’t favoured them with their game against Bangladesh being washed out.

Well-laid plans

Smith doesn’t see this as a distraction. “We are extremely focused and nothing has changed. Our plans were put in place a long time ago with regards to building up for this tournament and we’re still extremely excited. We’re obviously disappointed we didn’t have success in our last game against New Zealand, but our goal is still very clear,” he said.

The Australian dressing room has a bit of intrigue too. After his long injury lay off, Clarke took to the field for the New Zealand game by replacing George Bailey, the man who led Australia in the World Cup opening game against England and scored an unbeaten 55. With Smith also in the dressing room, the captains count in the dressing room is now three.

And there’s also that talented bloke, the batsman who didn’t do his homework during the last India tour.