Injured Clarke could miss Brisbane Test

Australia are preparing for the possibility of being without captain Michael Clarke for the opening Test against India. Clarke re-injured his hamstring during Friday's one-day win over South Africa in Perth and was due to have scans on Saturday, before returning to the east coast and seeing specialists in Sydney and Melbourne, leaving a few days of uncertainty before the full extent of his injury is known.

Under normal circumstances, returning in time for a Test series would be Clarke's sole focus but this summer the situation is complicated by the presence in the schedule of the World Cup in February and March. Australia's coach Darren Lehmann said Clarke would have his eyes on the World Cup and that getting him fit in time for the first Test at the Gabba, which starts in less than three weeks, would be a serious challenge.

"It's tight isn't it," Lehmann said in Perth on Saturday. "But [we] have to see what comes up [in the] next few days."

Clarke has only once missed a Test through injury, when his chronic back problem ruled him out of the final Test of Australia's disastrous tour of India in 2013. But given the repeated recurrences of his hamstring injury in the past few months it would not be at all surprising if Clarke was unable to get through four Tests against India this summer.

The potential loss of their captain would leave Australia searching for a new leader and the logical candidate would be the vice-captain Brad Haddin, but his availability is also uncertain as he continues to recover from a shoulder injury. The selectors may yet have to decide whether to give the captaincy to a tried veteran like Shane Watson, a captaincy specialist like George Bailey, or a potential Clarke successor such as Steven Smith.

"Brad's tracking along pretty well," Lehmann said. "I think he'll play the Shield game [starting on November 25] but we're in the lap of the medicos at the moment, but I'm pretty sure and pretty confident it'll be fine.

"Once we pick the side we'll work out what happens from there really. We've got some younger guys that are in the frame, as many people have said. In the end it comes down to what the selection panel, the chairman of selectors and the board want as their captain as well, so we're guided by them a bit."

In the longer term, Clarke's injury could have a bearing on Australia's World Cup campaign, which begins against England at the MCG on February 14. One-day vice-captain George Bailey will lead the side through the rest of the ongoing series against South Africa and might yet find himself a World Cup captain, and Lehmann said Australia could win the tournament even without Clarke.

"The way we play anyway, it doesn't matter who is in and out if that makes sense," Lehmann said. "We play a certain way and the XI that are playing that time, they fill those roles. George will take over the reins and do a really good job for the rest of the one-day series.

"I imagine he [Clarke] will want to be in the World Cup. So we've just got to get it diagnosed, work out what's going on finally and get it right. That's the big thing for us get him back playing cricket. First get him fit and healthy and then get him back to play."

In the immediate term, Bailey will captain Australia in the second ODI against South Africa at the WACA on Sunday, where they can take a 2-0 series lead having won the first match. Smith is expected to return to Australia's line-up in a straight swap for Clarke, after being unlucky to miss out on selection for the opening game.