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Michael Clarke feels that Australia resting a majority of their first-choice stars for the series-decider wasn’t the right call.
Michael Clarke (left) thinks Australian team didn’t care much for their recent ODI series with Pakistan. (AFP/AP)
Michael Clarke has slammed the Australian team management for not caring about the recent ODI series that they lost to Pakistan at home. The Aussies were beaten 1-2 in a three-match ODI series by Mohammad Rizwan-led squad.
Following a poor show in the second and third ODIs, the Aussies drew the wrath of the retired World Cup-winning captain. Clarke described the decision to rest five players including skipper Pat Cummins as ‘non-caring’.
“You can’t expect the fans to want and come and watch one-day cricket. We are bagging one-day cricket, no one is turning up, hasn’t got the interest, I wonder why. I feel like we obviously don’t care about losing that series. If you’re not going to care, we’re not going to care,” Clarke told Big Sports Breakfast.
Clarke suggested the players competing in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy should have played the final ODI against Pakistan.
According to him, the absence from the deciding series game would also affect their training. “I’m just a bit confused, so 11 days between now and the first Test, why can’t the Aussie boys who are part of this Test series play in the one-dayer? They are going to go to training and get flogged. If Australia had won the first two games, then you can understand why they rest their big fish, but it was series on the line,” he said.
Clarke further opined that the team management was getting their priorities mixed up. While he has no qualms with players being rested for the Test series against India but feels that all they had to do was play for one more day.
“I think we have it wrong. I understand resting for Test cricket, I love that, but it’s a one-day game. They are going to bowl more than that at training,” Clarke concluded.
The three-match Australia-Pakistan ODI series was levelled 1-1 after two games and despite the decider, Australia rested the likes of skipper Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschangne.
Australia will host Pakistan next for a three-match T20I series. They will square off in Brisbane on November 14 in the first match.
