Michael Clarke’s accusation of Aussies ‘being nice’ to India untrue, states Aaron Finch
Finch has rubbished Michael Clarke's allegations
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Aaron Finch has responded to Michael Clarke’s comments about ‘Australia sucking up to Kohli’ and has stated that the Kangaroos' outlook on the field in that series had nothing to do with IPL contracts. Earlier, Clarke was critical of the Aussies’ soft-toned approach against India in the 2018 series.
The 2018/19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia, which the visitors won 2-1, was strange in many ways, for not only did it feature one of the weakest Australian sides in recent history, but also saw the Kangaroos sport a very ‘soft’ persona on the field. The aftermath of the Newlands ball-tampering saga saw Tim Paine and Justin Langer rebuild the Australian side in a more toned-downed way, with the Kangaroos seldom partaking in verbal fights and/or sledging.
However, this very approach came under fire from former Australian skipper Michael Clarke, who accused the Aussies of ‘sucking up to Virat Kohli and India’ in order to please them and secure IPL contracts.
Clarke’s comments have since been condemned by a wide range of incumbent Aussie players and the latest one is limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch, who stated that the outlook of the Aussies in that series had nothing to do with them going behind IPL contracts.
“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 told Sports Tak responding to Clarke’s comments, reported Times Now.
“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.”
Finch, who featured in three Tests in that series versus India, further added that Clarke was entitled to his own opinion but admitted that he was a bit puzzled, given he did not see anything of that sort - Aussies being deliberately nice to Indians - going on within the team.
“Micheal told we were being nice but people were just trying to find their own game, they were trying 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.”
Incidentally, Finch has not donned the Baggy Green since his outing at the MCG on Boxing Day in 2018, with him being phased out of the Test side post the comeback of David Warner and Steve Smith and the emergence of Marnus Labuschagne.
