Michael Clarke, a former captain of Australia, slammed the national selectors for resting important players for the one-day international (ODI) series finale against Pakistan, claiming they didn’t give a damn about losing the series.
For the first time since 2002, Pakistan won the three-match ODI series at home on Sunday. The Men in Green swept to an eight-wicket victory in the decisive match.
Travis Head and Mitch Marsh missed the entire series because of parental leaves, and the home team was without captain Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Steve Smith, and Marnus Labuschagne in the series decider.
Notably, 11 days following the third ODI against Pakistan, Australia gave first priority to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, a five-match Test series against India.
The way the hosts handled the ODI series upset Clarke, who guided Australia to victory in the 2015 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.
“I’m a little perplexed. “There are eleven days until the first Test [in Perth], so why can’t the Australian boys playing in this Test series play in the one-dayer?” he stated on his Monday radio broadcast.
“You may comprehend why they rested their big fish if Australia prevailed in the first two games, but it was our series on the line,” he continued.
Clarke also accused Australia of “not caring” about the result of the ODI series, a format that is in decline because franchise cricket is so busy throughout a given year.
