Michael John Clarke is an Australian former cricketer. He was captain of the Australian cricket team in both Test and One Day International (ODI) between 2011 and 2015, leading Australia to victory in the 2015 Cricket World Cup. He also served as captain of the Twenty20 International (T20I) side between 2007 and 2010. With his time representing Australia, Clarke won multiple ICC titles with the team: the 2007 Cricket World Cup, the 2015 Cricket World Cup which he was the winning captain, and the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy.

The 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 11th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand from 14 February to 29 March 2015, and was won by Australia, defeating New Zealand by 7 wickets in the final. This was the second time the tournament was held in Australia and New Zealand, the first having been the 1992 Cricket World Cup. India were the defending champions having won the previous edition in 2011, but they were eliminated by eventual champions Australia in the semi-finals.