The former Australian cricket captain, Michael Clarke, has been inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame. At the age of 43 years old, Clarke received the accolade on Thursday after nearly 10 years since ending his stellar playing career. The 64th player inductee is one of two this season. Clarke started playing at 17 with New South Wales and eventually became the skipper to take Australia to win the ODI World Cup in 2015. Clarke led the team of Australia in 47 out of 115 Test matches. Altogether, Clarke had scored 8,643 runs in Test cricket, thus putting him on the sixth all-time list in Australia, while his 7,981 runs in ODIs keep him on the fourth position in that format. In Tests, he has hit 28 centuries and stands sixth on the all-time list. Clarke did exceptionally well during his initial days in ODI cricket, being not out for three consecutive innings. He made his Test debut in 2004 against India in their tour of India, scoring 151 runs in Bengaluru and was named the man of the match. After being dropped in 2005, Clarke came back stronger and scored a memorable 329 not out in Sydney in 2012, making him only the sixth Australian to score a Test triple century. He also scored double centuries in two more Tests against India and South Africa. Other innings that stood out were his 151 in Cape Town against South Africa in 2011, his 161 in 2014 despite suffering from a shoulder injury, and his emotional 128 against India in 2014, soon after the death of Phillip Hughes, in what was to be his last Test on home soil. Clarke replaced Australia's underperforming skipper following the loss of Ashes to England in 2011. He won Australia a 5-0 Ashes in 2013-14 and retired after the loss of Ashes to England in 2015. Clarke was the world's number one batter at his best. Also Read | Ankit Bawne Banned for One Game Over Dissent in Ranji Trophy Clarke said: "To be able to sit along so many wonderful players, idols, role models growing up as a kid and looking up to is something I'm honoured by. Retirement does a lot of things to you. Through stages of watching cricket now, you miss parts. "When you play at the highest level, people talk about your international career but for me, it started at six years of age. I retired at 34 so it was my life. It's still a part of my life. "Cricket - it's probably so similar to life in general. You walk out and make 100 and then lift the bat, and then you walk out to field, field in slip and drop a catch second ball of the game." Chairman of the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame Peter King lauded Clarke, saying he is a player who "defined his generation." King said: "Michael's extraordinary first-class playing career started at just 17 at the SCG - the place where many of his highlights occurred, including a Test triple century against India in 2012." He added: "Michael's career will forever be remembered fondly by the Australian public and his standing held alongside those at the upper echelon of our game." Clarke also proved his potential as a left-arm spinner, as he took 3 wickets for 5 runs in 1.5 overs against India in 2008 and helped Australia retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and continue their winning streak. He also took 6 wickets for 9 runs in his debut series against India in Mumbai.