Michael Clarke’s ignorant comments an evidence to his disconnection with the cricket world

Of course, every now and then there is a grounding reality - such as the ongoing pandemic to which there is no cure as of yet - that exactly shows how far we’re still behind and why we’re not immortal yet, but still the truth is humankind has taken medical, biological, scientific and technological advancements to heights that were inconceivable in the past.

That India are a financial powerhouse in cricket and they arguably control everything in world cricket at the moment is a fact. However, to imply that an IPL franchise can be swayed into picking particular players due to their camaraderie with Indian cricketers is the absurdity of the highest order. If that were the case, Darren Sammy would be in the starting XI of Mumbai Indians every single year. Or perhaps, Clarke has convinced himself that it’s the only reason he played no more than 6 IPL matches. Maybe someone should go remind him that his average of 16.33 in the competition and his overall career T20 strike rate of 108.22 could have maybe played a part, too? 

Not only did Clarke get his facts completely wrong with his statements, but by doing so, he also disrespected hundreds of players who bust their backsides off 365 days a year just so that they could land a lucrative IPL contract. And in this day and age, an IPL contract is no joke. Several cricketers consider it as the pinnacle of their careers and it holds more value than one might imagine.

Now for the second part of his comments. “The players were like: ‘I’m not going to sledge Kohli, I want him to pick me for Bangalore so I can make my $1 million for my six weeks”. It’s already been established that Clarke has no understanding of how the IPL auction works whatsoever, and now, it’s clear that his perception of Virat Kohli the cricketer is as flawed as it can get.

The third part of his shoot, however, details the REAL motivation behind all these comments - his inability to come to terms with the fact that Australia are actually on a quest to become a ‘nice’ team. ‘“I feel like that’s where Australia went through that little phase where our cricket become a little bit softer or not as hard as we’re accustomed to seeing. I feel that Australian cricket, and probably every other team over a little period, went the opposite and actually sucked up to India. They were too scared to sledge Kohli or the other Indian players.” 

Mind you, this is not the first time that Clarke has gone on a rant against the toned-down approach of the Aussies under Paine and Langer. A year and a half ago, he went on an aggressive rant against the subdued approach of the team, saying, "If you try and walk away from it, we might be the most-liked team in the world, we're not going to win s***. We won't win a game. Boys and girls want to win."

The line between constructive criticism and baseless accusation is a thin one and unfortunately, Michael Clarke is sitting on the extreme end of the latter side of the spectrum, with his comments coming off as nothing but irrational spite against an ideology that, by the looks of it, he just cannot come to terms with. Many great athletes in the past have tarnished their reputation with their needless, spiteful comments post-retirement and we can just hope that ‘Pup’ does not fall into the drain that hundreds, if not thousands, of former sportsmen, have slipped into.