If situations in these extraordinary times are under control then cricket fans will soon be lucky enough to witness a vinatge India versus Australia series by the end of this year. Cricket Australia has also released the fixtures for the same and the Men in Blue are set to tour Down Under for a 4-match Test series starting from December 3.
During India’s last tour of Australia, the team had created history by winning their maiden Test series in the nation. Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara were the standout performers for India with the bat, while in the bowling department Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami ran havoc.
Recalling the last tour, former Australia captain Michael Clarke had opined that Australians were going easy and “suking up” to India captain Virat Kohli as they were worried about their lucrative IPL contracts. The comments got reactions from many Australians players who were part of that series as they were shell-shocked by the claims of Clarke.
Australia’s limited-over captain Aaron Finch has reacted to Michael Clarke’s comment and said that he might have seen things which the team didn’t see from inside. Finch told that players were putting their best foot forward against a very strong Indian team.
“They were obviously not being nice to impress because they wanted an IPL contract. There is nothing about it. If you ask to anyone playing on the field they will tell you that it was very very tough. It was played in right spirit but it was very tough. Not sure where it was coming from.”
“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.”
“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 entitle to their views, he might have seen something from the outside which we didn’t see from inside,” Finch told Sports Tak.
The Australian captain was also asked to comment on the future of MS Dhoni. MS Dhoni hasn’t played professional cricket since the semifinal of 2019 World Cup and speculations are rife about his cricketing future. Finch refrained from making any comment, while adding that he loves watching MS Dhoni bat.
“I am not sure, I honest don’t know about what MS Dhoni has being doing but Jesus great player, I love watching him but I can’t answer that because I just don’t know.”
When asked to pick a combined ODI XI of players from India and Australia, an ‘unprepared’ Finch picked former India opener Virender Sehwag within a fraction of a second. Aaron Finch added that he would love to watch Virender Sehwag and Adam Gilchrist bat together.
“Sehwag is my number one pick. He was so dominant. As soon he was on, the game was over. I want to go with Rohit Sharma, his record is amazing but I want to watch Adam Gilchrist open with Virender Sehwag. I will go with Ricky Ponting at 3 and Virat Kohli at 4.”
Hardik pandya, Andrew Symonds, Brett Lee, Jasprit Bumrah and Glenn McGrath were the other players picked by Finch in his combined India-Australia ODI XI.
