When I did the statistics wrap-up for the summer a few weeks back I made a note that Clarkey was just a few runs away from equaling Sir Donald Bradman's career runs scored.
He managed to surpass this milestone of The Don's, but no comparison should ever be drawn to the legend.
Those runs were scored during a different era, with tougher conditions, basic equipment, as well as achieving his 6,996 runs in only 80 innings.
However, the achievement placed Clarkey in the Top 10 all time run-scorers for Australia in Test cricket. He also went past 7,000 Test runs.
To top it off his century is number 23 (his ODI shirt number) and his 3rd Test century in India, against India. This century puts him level with Justin Langer in terms of most centuries scored for Australia in Test cricket, placing him 7th on the list.
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| © BCCI. Clarke reaches his century (Chennai) |
Always a pleasure to watch him battle against spin bowling. The foot work and bat speed is always a treat. No exception with this innings, especially being played under pressure.
It was a challenging day for our batsmen as India sent down 95 overs. 73 of these overs were delivered by India's three spin bowlers. Ravichandran Ashwin claimed 6 wickets for the days play, quite a stack.
This will raise Nathan Lyon's eyebrows and give him some confidence, but will also mean the pressure is on come our dig at the Indians in the first innings. He likely has a huge job to do.
Michael Clarke and Peter Siddle will resume tomorrow with the score currently 7/316, with James Pattinson and Nathan Lyon to follow.
After being in a worrying position at 4/131, after the opening stand between David Warner (59) and Ed Cowan brought 68 runs, we have recovered excellently to ensure it's an even sort of day come the stumps.
First session tomorrow is a massive one for us as we target 350 runs and India eye those last three wickets.
Michael Clarke's individual innings list since taking on the Captaincy against Sri Lanka (2011/12):
Summary: 21 matches, 35 innings, 2,350 runs, HS 329*, Average 75.80, x9 centuries, x4 fifties.
Versus Sri Lanka: 23, 60, 13, 6, 112,
Versus South Africa: 151, 2, 11, 2,
Versus New Zealand: 139, 22, 0,
Versus India: 31, 1, 329*, 18, 210, 37,
Versus West Indies: 73, 6, 45, 15, 24, 25,
Versus South Africa: 259*, 230, 38, 5, 44,
Versus Sri Lanka: 74, 57*, 106, 50, 29,
Versus India: 103* (currently in progress)
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