Shane Watson poised to captain Australia in fourth Test against India as Michael Clarke fails to train Shane Watson is a step closer to captaining Australia. Picture: Luke Bowden Source: The Mercury SHANE Watson has moved a step closer to his dream of captaining Australia with injured skipper Michael Clarke failing to train today ahead of the fourth Test against India starting Friday. Watson, however, is facing a public backlash with his detractors believing he does not deserve to captain Australia after being suspended last week for failing to take part in a performance review. But Watson's ascension to the top job appears a fait accompli with Clarke today failing to participate in Australia's first training session at Delhi's Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium. The Australians trained for approximately two hours. Clarke, battling a back problem related to a degenerative condition, did not warm-up or take part in fielding drills, instead chatting with Australian coach Mickey Arthur. The skipper also refrained from batting in the nets, leaving Clarke just 48 hours to convince Australian team medicos his body can withstand the rigours of a Test match. The skipper has never previously missed a Test due to a back complaint but rarely, if ever, has Clarke looked in so much pain in the lead-up to a match. The 31-year-old resembled an old-age pensioner as he shuffled to a post-match conference following the third Test loss on Monday and he was still walking gingerly at the team hotel yesterday. Clarke will give himself until match morning, but it appears Watson will be officially ordained as Australia's 44th Test captain - just days after returning to India following the birth of his son Will. The prospect of Watson leading the nation has ignited debate, with many Australian cricket fans adamant the allrounder has not earned the right after his indiscretion in Mohali. But Australian coach Mickey Arthur backed Watson's leadership ability, although he concedes the 31-year-old needs to lift after averaging 25.20 with the bat at Test level in the past 18 months. Watson has not scored a Test ton for 37 innings stretching back to his 126 against India in Mohali in October 2010. "I want to reiterate that in our conversations, and I've spoken to Watto a lot, he has been incredibly supportive of where this team is moving to and really wants to be part of it," he said. Once the emotion went away from Watto, he was very, very supportive of what we want to do with the team. Of Watson's form, Arthur said: "It is a concern. He looks like he's going to get runs every time he goes to the wicket, he just hasn't kicked on. Watto is the first one to admit that he needs a big score, there's no doubt about that. I'm backing him in to get one pretty soon and then hopefully when he gets it, that just opens the floodgates for more and more runs. Test opener Ed Cowan says Watson would be a different style of leader to Clarke, but nevertheless believes he is up to the task. "Shane is more a lead-by-example kind of fellow in terms of how he prepares," Cowan said.