Don’t win matches by sledging, Clarke’s statements were ridiculous: Former India opener

Former Australia captain Michael Clarke had claimed that the Australian players went soft on the Indian team and on captain Virat Kohli during the recent India vs Australia matches as they wanted to bag IPL contracts.

Former Australia captain Michael Clarke had claimed that the Australian players went soft on the Indian team and on captain Virat Kohli during the recent India vs Australia matches as they wanted to bag IPL contracts. However, Krishnamachari Srikkanth believes that these statements were ridiculous and that cricket matches are not won or lost only be sledging.

File image of Michael Clarke (Getty Images)

“You do not win matches just by sledging. Aussie’s loss is a loss, his statement was ridiculous I would say. If you ask Nasser Hussain or Sir Vivian Richards who are experienced players, you can never score runs or get wickets through sledging. You need to play good cricket and showcase determination; you need to bowl well to get wickets and bat well to achieve targets. Sledging cannot help in any way according to my opinion,” Srikkanth said on Star Sports connected.

This is what Michael Clarke had said:

“Everybody knows how powerful India are in regards to the financial part of the game, internationally or domestically with the IPL,” Clarke told Big Sports Breakfast.

“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 because they had to play with them in April.

“Name a list of 10 players and they are bidding for these Australian players to get into their IPL team. 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 US for my six weeks’.”