Can’t believe Oz T20 captain hasn’t been bought: Clarke
SYDNEY: Aaron Finch going unsold at the IPL 2021 auction has surprised former Australia Test captain Michael Clarke who said that the rejection will upset Australia’s current limited-overs skipper.
Finch, who is expected to lead Australia in the T20 World Cup this year in India in October-November, was released by Royal Challengers Bangalore ahead of Thursday’s auction.
He set a base price of Rs 1 crore for himself but was not picked by any franchise.
“Are the Australian selectors wrong in Aaron Finch being our Twenty20 captain or is every IPL franchise wrong?” Clarke asked on Sky Sports’ Big Sports Breakfast.
“I can’t believe this. The Australian Twenty20 captain has not been bought. Someone is wrong,” added Clarke.
“In no sport on the planet can you captain Australia and miss out on a tournament with a truckload of teams. Don’t tell me Aaron Finch is not good enough to be a part of one of those IPL teams,” he said, amused.
“I cannot believe Finchy hasn’t been picked up. Even for Finchy, that’s got to hurt as the Australian T20 captain. I think he’s still, definitely at the top of the order, one of the best in the world.”
Finch had led Australia to a 2-1 win in the ODI series at the start of the Australian summer ater a lacklustre outing at the IPL 2020 where he scored 268 runs in 12 matches at an average of 22.33. He could get just one half-century.
His poor strike rate was also a cause of concern for RCB. Being an opener, he was expected to go ater the bowling but could strike at only 111.2.
Meanwhile, Clarke has hinted that batsman Steve Smith might pull out of the IPL 2021 citing injury ater being picked for a relatively small amount at the auction.
Smith, the Australian bating mainstay was picked for Rs 2.2 crore by Delhi Capitals at Thursday’s auction ater he was released by Rajasthan Royals (RR) for below-par performance in IPL 2020.
RR, who retained Smith in 2018 for Rs 12.5 crore, finished at the botom in the points table in IPL 2020 under Smith’s captaincy.
“I know his T20 performances haven’t been as good as he would have liked. Last year’s IPL wasn’t great. I’m very surprised he has gone for the amount of money he has, just under $400,000 - which is still good money,” said Clarke on the Big Sports Breakfast Podcast ater calling Smith among the top three batsmen in the world.
“But when you look at what he was geting (last season) and his role as captain of Rajasthan, don’t be surprised if there’s a litle hamstring strain the day the plane is meant to fly to India,” Clarke added.
Smith made 311 runs at 25.91 in last year’s IPL in 14 matches, scoring just three half-centuries.
“You talk about Steve Smith - if he’s not the best batsman in the world, he’s not far away. Virat Kohli is number one, but Smithy is in the top three,” Clarke added.
In the recently concluded auction of the world’s richest T20 league, South African Chris Morris fetched 22 times his base price (Rs.75 lakh) for the highest-ever bid of Rs.16.25 crore in the Indian Premier League (IPL) history as Rajasthan Royals (RR) picked the South African fast bowling all-rounder ater an intense bidding war with Punjab Kings at an auction here.