Clarke was named captain for a 2008 Twenty20 International against India at the MCG.  

The 20 over game was still in its infancy and not taken anywhere near as seriously as it is now, but being his maiden match as national captain, Clarke was taking his role very seriously.

In his book, Michael Clarke: My Story, Clarke details a run-in with the selection panel that almost saw him pull out as skipper.

“Merv Hughes, who I like and respect enormously, was the selector on duty,” Clarke writes. “He walked into the changing room before the match with a piece of paper showing me the batting order and who was opening the bowler.

“‘What’s this?’ I said.

“‘This is the batting order and what the selectors want to see happen today.’

“‘Merv,’ I said, ‘ring Digger (then-head selector Andrew Hilditch) and tell him he’s got to find someone else to captain Australia.’

“I tore Merv’s piece of paper up. This wasn’t the under-10s. I wasn’t walking onto the MCG with a piece of paper telling me what to do.

“Sure enough, Merv phoned Digger, who called me.

“‘Sorry about that, Michael’, he said, ‘You’re the captain, you make the calls, that sheet’s what we’re thinking, but it’s only a guide’.”