Michael Clarke named Australia skipper, hopes to be fit by February 21

Named Australia’s captain for next month’s World Cup despite being out injured right now, Michael Clarke on Sunday said he was confident of participating in the marquee tournament for which he has to prove his fitness by February 21.

The World Cup, to be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand, starts February 14 but Clarke won’t be available until at least February 21, when Australia play Bangladesh in their second pool game.

Clarke, who was forced out of the recent Test series against India due to fitness problems, will be unavailable for the first match of the World Cup on February 14 against England.

“Yep, I definitely am, obviously I’ve got my work cut out - It wont be for a lack of work - I’m confident I’ll be fit,” Clarke said after the team’s announcement on Sunday. The inspirational batsman recently underwent a hamstring surgery while his back remains a worry due to nagging spasms. He is currently undergoing rehabilitation and has claimed that the process has been going at a better pace than he expected. “My focus is to get fully fit, however long that takes. I’m not focused on the Bangladesh date. I’m just focused on my day to day training schedule. If this was a tri-series or a tour of West Indies this would be the same for me,” he said.