Australia’s World Cup-winning captain Michael Clarke has slammed the selectors for resting key players for the deciding ODI against Pakistan at Perth. Clarke questioned the selectors’ decision to not play the big players despite the series on the line.
Australia decided to rest some of its key players like Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Pat Cummins from the third and final ODI against Pakistan at Perth.
All these players have been an integral part of the Australian team over the years and are also a part of Australia’s squad for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. With the Test series against India just a few days away, the selectors decided to rest them ahead of a hectic home summer.
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Michael Clarke hits out at Australian selectors for not caring about ODIs
While speaking to Big Sports Breakfast, Michael Clarke expressed his concern over the decision to rest the players for the third ODI. The former Australia captain feels that the players must have played the game given the series was on the line. He slammed the selectors for not caring much about the series.
“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-dayerIf 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 obviously don’t care about losing that series,” Clarke said.
The decision to drop key players for the final ODI turned out to be a poor decision as Australia were bowled out for just 140 after batting first on a spicy pitch at Perth. Opening bowlers Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah picked up two wickets each while Haris Rauf picked up two wickets.
Pakistan chased down the target with 139 balls to spare on the back of crucial knocks from their top four batters in the line-up. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan remained unbeaten till the end to finish things off.
Michael Clarke’s bold claims about ODI cricket’s decline
Further speaking, Michael Clarke claimed that the fans won’t care about ODI cricket if the selectors do not care. He admitted that the interest is going away from the format now.
“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,” Michael Clarke noted.
T20I series follow after ODIs
One-day cricket has been under serious pressure ever since the growth of T20 and franchise cricket. Many experts claim that ODIs are on a decline as the no. of matches have reduced as well.
Pakistan lost the first ODI in the three-match series but the Men in Green fought back brilliantly to win the next two matches of the series, thus winning it 2-1. Both the teams will play each other in a T20I series which is set to begin from November 14 in Brisbane.
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