Aaron Finch responds to Michael Clarke’s comment: The Australian white-ball captain denied being nice to Indian players for IPL contracts.
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After fast bowler Pat Cummins and Test captain Tim Paine, Australia ODI and T20I captain Aaron Finch has become the latest Australian cricketer to be vocal on former captain Michael Clarke’s statement that the Australian team “sucked up” to the Indian players for contracts in the Indian Premier League during India’s tour of Australia in 2018.
Finch, 33, pretty much denied all such claims made by Clarke stating that the Test series was “very very tough” and played in the right spirit throughout the four Tests which saw India registering a 2-1 victory for the first time in Australia.
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“They were obviously not being nice to impress because they wanted an IPL contract. There is nothing about it. If you ask anyone playing on the field they will tell you that it was very very tough. It was played in the right spirit but it was very tough. Not sure where it was coming from,” Finch was quoted as saying by Sports Tak.
Aaron Finch responds to Michael Clarke’s comment
Finch, who made his Test debut the same year, didn’t play another Test post the Boxing Day fixture as him scoring 97 runs in three Tests at an average of 16.16 saw him getting replaced by Marnus Labuschagne for the last match.
Speaking from a batsman’s perspective, Finch put light on how the Australian team was going through a transition and the same found them wanting against a formidable Indian bowling attack.
“The team was going through a transition and there were a lot of players trying to find their way in international cricket and doing that against India. Talking as a batsman, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, you can’t hide against that kind of attack.
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“Michael [Clarke] said we were being nice but people were just trying to find their own game, they were trying their best way to play Test cricket. But everyone is entitled to their views, he might have seen something from the outside which we didn’t see from inside,” Finch added.
Finch, who led Australia during their first ODI against New Zealand behind closed doors at the SCG in March, would be looking forward to August when Australia will resume international cricket as they are scheduled to host Zimbabwe.
Had it not been for the COVID-19 pandemic, Finch would have played the 13th season of the Indian Premier League under India captain Virat Kohli for his eighth franchise in the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
