1. Under Clarke, Australia won their 5th ICC ODI World Cup earlier this year at home. He played a significant role in the final against the Kiwis scoring 72. Clarke has been a part of 2 ODI World Cups (2007 and 2015) and 2 Champions Trophy (2006 and 2009) winning sides.
2. Clarke made his debut Test score of 151 against India in Bangalore, 2004–05; he then made 141 against New Zealand in November 2004 on his debut on home-soil at the Gabba making him the only Australian to score a century on both home and away debuts.
3. His best Test bowling figures of 6 for 9 came against India, Mumbai, 2004–05 thus ensuring a memorable series win for the Aussies.
4. Clarke led Australia in 74 ODIs, of which Australia won 50. He finished his ODI career with 7981 runs from 245 matches with 8 centuries and 58 half-centuries. He also made more than 8000 runs with an average close to 50 in Tests.
5. A brilliant slip fielder, Clarke took 125 catches in Tests and 106 in ODIs. He is one of the few players who are equally good at throwing with either hand.
6. Clarke captained Australia in the under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka in 2000. Australia managed to reach only the semi finals of the tournament though.
7. In January 2011, Clarke stepped down as captain of the Australian T20I team to concentrate on his Test and ODI game. Which was quite a good decision as after this Clarke went on to make Australia one of the giants of cricket again, a status which they had lost for a short while.
13. In the memorable Test series win against the Proteas in 2014, the skipper finished unbeaten on 161 at Newlands after bravely surviving a brutal spell from Morne Morkel. Scans later revealed he had played most of the innings with a fractured shoulder. It is still rated one of his most prolific batting performances in terms of courage and bravery.
14. He was very close to former Australian Cricketer Phil Hughes who died in November 2014 when he was hit by a bouncer on the neck. Clarke couldn’t hold his tears at Hughes funeral and gave a very emotional speech. This was just before the test series against India in 2014-15 and the 2015 world cup.
15. In 2010, Clarke left Australia’s touring party to New Zealand midway to sort out his personal problems as a report linked the move to a scandal involving his model fiancee, Lara Bingle. After a couple of days, Clarke cancelled his wedding with the model and returned to New Zealand. He married TV presenter Kylie Boldi on 15 May 2012.
