Australia World Cup-winning captain Michael Clarke made a shocking revelation that the Australian skipper Pat Cummins could be dropped from the playing 11 for the game against Sri Lanka on Monday. The five-time champions had a worst to their World Cup campaign losing their first two games in a humiliating manner.
Australia lost to the Proteas in Lucknow on Thursday, suffering their largest-ever ODI World Cup defeat by a difference of 134 runs. The Pat Cummins-led team struggled against the in-form Proteas and will look to rebound in the remaining matches to get their campaign underway in the marquee event.
Speaking on Sky Sports Radio’s Big Sports Breakfast, Michael Clarke dropped a bombshell that Pat Cummins might be dropped for the game against Sri Lanka and criticized the selectors for Alex Carey’s dramatic ouster from the team after failure against India. The former Australian skipper questioned whether the team knew about the playing 11 going into the ODI World Cup.
“I heard last night that Pat Cummins is not going to be selected for this game,” he said.
“We’ve dropped our wicketkeeper… who is one of the most important people in your squad. So he got one game and got dropped. Now there’s talk we’re going to drop our captain. So in two games our two most significant players in a squad on tour are going to be left out. Do you not know your best XI before you get to a World Cup?” Michael Clarke said.
The Australian team struggled to get going with both bat and ball against South Africa and India and the Australian captain also admitted that the team was deeply hurt by the first two losses in the tournament. The five-time champions may not allow another lapse in the tournament, as they will aim to be clean going into the match against Sri Lanka.
You Had Enough Games Of Cricket But You Didn’t Use Those Games – Michael Clarke
Michael Clarke said that the Australian players were happy with the preparations going into the World Cup in India, but the former skipper believes that the team didn’t use those opportunities to finalize their playing 11 for the marquee event and questioned the role of the Australian captain Pat Cummins in the team.
“I heard the players say our preparation was perfect. No, no — you had enough games of cricket but you didn’t use those games,” he added.
Australia Cricket Team Credits: Twitter“You didn’t pick your best players. You didn’t work out are we going to bat first, or bowl first. You didn’t work out who’s playing where, you didn’t even pick your captain to let him captain some games of cricket. So come World Cup semi-final [or] grand final he knows exactly what he’s doing under pressure,” Michael Clarke added.
Australia had a poor run in the build-up to the ODI World Cup in India, as they lost a five-match ODI series against South Africa after being 2-0 up in the series before losing three consecutive games in a big margin against the Proteas on their home soil.