'Shattered' Ponting backs Clarke to make impression

With the massive challenge of a tour to India just around the corner, Australia's captain, Ricky Ponting, has admitted he is "shattered" to have suffered a broken thumb at such an untimely juncture. But, as he faces up to possible surgery on Friday, Ponting is confident that Australia's young batting star, Michael Clarke, will shine in his absence.

Ponting suffered the injury - a fracture between the nail and first knuckle - while dropping a slip catch during Australia's Champions Trophy semi-final defeat against England. The upshot is the likelihood of a Test debut for Clarke, one of the hottest young batsmen in the game, in perhaps the toughest environment in world cricket.

"You'd probably think Michael would play," Ponting told the Sydney Morning Herald. "It's going to be a hard test for him. There's probably no more challenging tour in world cricket than touring India, but he will do a good job. He's a confident young fella, he's well prepared, he plays the spinners well. He'll be fine.

"He'll be nervous," added Ponting. "He's a bit of a nervous sort of bloke anyway, but he'll be looking forward to it. He's obviously been dreaming of playing for Australia for a long time. The fact he has been there and had a bit of success in that one-day tour last year will hold him in good stead for this tour." On that trip, in November 2003, Clarke scored 70 at Pune and followed up with an unbeaten 44 from 28 balls in the final at Kolkata, as Australia won by 37 runs.

Ponting's own experiences of Test cricket in India have not been good - he was tormented by Harbhajan Singh and averaged just 12 in the 2000-01 series - but his absence is a bodyblow to Australia's hopes of winning there for the first time in 35 years. From the prospect of making history, Ponting is now facing up to a period on the sidelines, which he rates as "probably the biggest disappointment of my career".

"Being the captain and having to leave the team on the eve of one of our biggest tours in the last few years is pretty shattering," he said as he awaited the prospect of hand surgery, which would leave him unable to hold a bat for two weeks. "I was really looking forward to captaining the side in India, taking on the challenge of playing India in India.

"After the last series there, the end result was disappointing for everyone who was there, but I guess a bit more so for me, not making any runs. Just falling over at the last hurdle as a team was bitterly disappointing, and I've been looking forward to getting over there and changing that whole thing around. Hopefully I can get there for the second Test and play a good part in the last three Test matches."

"It wouldn't have been so bad if it was my bottom hand," he explained, "but being my top hand, a lot of your grip strength goes through your thumb on your top hand, so [batting] is only going to make it worse if anything. I won't be able to pick up a bat for a couple of weeks, because if there's any movement on that thumb it will hinder the healing process."

"They could put a pin in it, or a screw, and fix that bit of bone back down to where it should be. Hopefully that will make it heal quicker." Either way, he intends to fly out to India as soon as is medically permissable, even if it means sitting on the sidelines and watching his team-mates perform without him.

In his absence, Adam Gilchrist takes over as Australia's captain, with Darren Lehmann working alongside him as vice-captain. "They'll do a good job," said Ponting. "They've both got very good cricket brains."