Warne, Chappell at odds over Clarke

Test greats Shane Warne and Ian Chappell are at odds over Michael Clarke's captaincy with Warne hailing his close mate and Chappell highly critical of his ability to set a batting order.

While the pair are normally on the same page, they cannot see eye to eye over the Test skipper.

Warne believes Clarke is the best captain in the world but Chappell remains dismayed over suggestion that Shane Watson should not bat in the top order.

With opener David Warner, Clarke and Steve Smith the only established batsmen in the Australian line-up, Chappell says Watson should be a walk-up at No. 3 for the upcoming Test series against India.

"No. 3 is obviously a problem since Ricky Ponting vacated, and the one thing that does bother me with Michael Clarke is his inability to visualise the batting order," Chappell said during a media session to launch Channel Nine's summer of cricket.

"I don’t know whether he doesn’t understand how important a batting order is.

"If you’ve got the side that you had in the 1990s, early 2000s, it probably doesn’t matter what order you bat them in.

"But if you’ve got a side that is struggling with its batting line-up then you better get them in the right order.

"And I can’t believe the quote I saw from Michael the other day when he was asked about the Shane Watson batting in the top order or batting at 3 and he said 'oh not so sure about the top order'.

"Shane Watson is the No. 3 as far as I’m concerned and if Chris Rogers isn’t up to the mark I’d also think about him being an opener perhaps."

Warne, who has long been a mentor to Clarke, insists he is peerless as a national captain and ready to regain top form after struggling in the 2-0 Test series loss to Pakistan, where he averaged just 14.

"They’ve got the best captain in the world in Michael Clarke. I’m sure he’ll find some form straight away," Warne said.

"I think he’s in pretty good touch, he’s cleared up his mind a little bit and I think he’ll be pretty good.

"Watch out for Michael Clarke I think he’s going to make a few big hundreds soon."

Warne is adamant Australia can win the World Cup but says it will be vital to get the batting mix right.

"It’s just about what the combinations are and what the batting orders are," he said.

"If they get that right they’re a real chance (for the World Cup).

"My concern is batsmen. We need the batters making runs. I thought collectively they … played pretty poorly against Pakistan."