The debate over whether playing in the Indian Premier League is responsible for Australian players suffering several injuries in recent times has come into the spotlight again as former Australia skipper Michael Clarke believes that the players should reconsider playing in the cash-rich league in a bid to avoid fatigue and burnout.
Steve Smith, John Hastings, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh and Joel Paris had to leave this year’s IPL midway after suffering injuries. Moreover, a string of poor performances in last few months has made several people think that playing in the T20 league is somewhat responsible for it.
Just a couple of months ago, former Australia skipper Steve Waugh blasted the Aussie players for complaining about a hectic workload while playing for the country and then playing in the cash-rich Indian Premier League. And now Clarke also feels that playing for the nation should be the topmost priority for any player.
“Cricket Australia allow every contracted player to have six weeks off a year,” Clarke said on Saturday (December 3). “This falls during the IPL time so it’s an individual player’s choice to go and play IPL. And if you choose your six-week holiday to play IPL, then that’s your choice.
“There’s positives, the cash, that comes with that, but there’s negatives, the fatigue and lack of rest. You’ve got to sum up what’s best for you.
The Australian team came under fire after their skipper Steve Smith took a break from international cricket midway through the ODI series in Sri Lanka. On the other hand, Jos Hazlewood was rested during Australia’s ODI series in South Africa in which they were whitewashed 5-0.
“It didn’t matter who I played against, representing Australia was the pinnacle and every game was important, so I think the Australian team needs the whole squad at full strength, there’s no doubt about it, in all three formats,” he said.
Meanwhile, Clarke said that Australia’s pace duo, Mitchell Starc and Hazlewood can be rested if Australia are able to take a 2-0 lead against New Zealand in the upcoming Chappell-Hadlee series. The fast bowlers bowled 147 overs in the recently concluded Test series against South Africa and there were fears that they might suffer a burnout due to the excessive workload.
“I think once you’ve won the series, if Australia manage to go 2-0 up in this one-day series then for the third one-dayer I think there’s an opportunity to rest their two fast bowlers,” Clarke pointed out.
The former cricketer also admitted that injuries are a part and parcel of the game. At the same time, he advised the players to take breaks in between to refresh themseleves,
“I think it’s inevitable if you’re playing 12 months of the year, year after year after year, that you’re going to get some sort of niggle, some sort of fatigue, some sort of injury,” he said.
“There’s a lot more that comes these days with being a professional sportsman and that’s why I believe at some stage you’re going to need a break mentally and physically to get away from the game if you want longevity in the sport.”