New Delhi:
After playing one of the best innings of his life in the fourth of five-match series against India, the Australian vice-captain is "really confident" of entering the ICC Cricket World with this squad. He says that the team is strong enough to confident to defend the World Cup title.
"As a player in the Australian cricket side, we have been working hard in the last 12-18 months. Some success has started to come our way. We are really confident moving with the squad we take to the World Cup," Clarey said on the eve of the series-deciding game here. Carey said it will only add to the strength of the side when Steve Smith and David Warner rejoin the side after serving out their bans.
"Those are definitely some big names that might come back into the line. The guys that are in the side are performing well, so it's only healthy for Australian cricket that the guys in the side are playing well and these guys that have done really well in the past have definitely put their hand up for selection when they are available."
He said he was not surprised by the way the Australian batsmen tackled India's formidable spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, who have tormented batters with their guile in recent times.
"There have probably been a fair bit of media (analysis) about Australia playing against spin in the past. We have worked really hard on playing spin bowling in the nets over 12-18 months. I guess to see some reward, again it's no surprise, but the guys are doing so much hard work off the field," said Carey.
The match will be played on a Feroz Shah Kotla wicket which may assist slow bowlers. Carey, though, said they are capable of handling whatever is thrown at them."We played some local Indian bowlers that we tried in the nets, so I guess it's a really good experience. Guys getting out there in the middle to have the confidence to take on their spinners got to be a great confidence tomorrow.
"He said the strength of the Australian team at the moment is that they have plenty of options."
We take a lot of confidence that we trust the batters to perform their role. When Ashton did that the other night he did really well. They (Indians) are world class bowlers and I am sure they want to bounce back and it's up to our batters to have a game plan to negate that. We trust the players to perform their role and take on the best bowlers in the world and do a good job."
Meanwhile, the final game of the series is scheduled to be played at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi on March 13. As of now, the series between two promising sides if leveled and this remains to be seen if Australia, which was two down in the series can create history.
