The former World Cup-winning captain of Australia, Michael Clarke, has put his finger to the careless approach of the home side in their home ODI series against Pakistan, which they went on to lose by a 2-1 margin. This is now their maiden 50-over series defeat against this opponent in their condition since 2002.
Keeping in mind the upcoming five-match Test series against India for the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25, which starts on November 22 at the Optus Stadium in Perth, the selectors of Cricket Australia (CA) decided to pull off their red-ball candidates for the final 50-over clash of the Pakistan side to keep them fresh.
In those circumstances, the regular captain, Pat Cummins, along with their two premier pacers, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, and the two batters in the middle order, Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith, didn’t feature in Perth. Most of the youngsters, in that aspect, faced the Green Brigade.
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The start of the series didn’t see Australia earning a convincing victory as they got over the line in Melbourne with just two wickets in hand, chasing the low score of 202. Their entire batting department was terrified before the pace attack of the Mohammad Rizwan-led side, especially before the expressive Haris Rauf.
Micheal Clarke was stunned by the decision to rest the top players of Australia for the series decider
The same trend continued in Adelaide, where they were batting first and were bundled out for a low score before being blown away for a nine-wicket defeat. Their bowlers looked a bit fragile in every encounter as if they weren’t giving their all in the whole process, probably putting the whole focus on the red-ball summer.
In a recent interaction on Big Sports Breakfast, the former World Cup-winning captain of Australia, Michael Clarke, opined that there was no reason for the management to rest the players, especially when the series was on the line.
“I‘m just a bit confused, so 11 days between now and the first Test (in Perth), why can’t the Aussie boys who are part of this Test series play in the one-dayer? 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. I feel like we don’t care about losing that series.” Clarke elaborated.
The likes of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Mohammad Hussain exploited the conditions extremely well, something which the home pacers weren’t able to do the lion’s share of the series.
The format is already losing interest around the globe. Most of the investors and pundits of the game have feared considering the broken picture of the ODIs in world cricket. In those scenarios, it would be important for the players to step up, or else the fans will put the curtains down all the time.
“If you’re not going to care, we’re not going to care. You can’t expect the fans to want to come and watch one-day cricket. We are bagging one-day cricket, no one is turning up, hasn’t got the interest.” The 43-year-old former from Australia remarked.
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One of the things to look forward to for the country is also their preparation for the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025, which is scheduled to take place in the second week of February.
Australia will be facing Sri Lanka in a one-off 50-over game from hereon to complete their preparation for the ICC event. In that case, it will be important for the current World Cup champions to gel their players together before the all-important tournament.