Picture Credit: IPL/BCCI/CA
Australia are set to tour Bangladesh and West Indies for an exciting limited-overs tour in July-August. With the players getting a much-needed break in the last couple of months, it was expected that the Kangaroos will have a full-strength squad for the tour. However, there were a few key notable absentees when the final team was announced. Some of the big names included the likes of Pat Cummins, David Warner, Glen Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Jhye Richardson and Steve Smith.
I was a little surprised: Finch on absence of few players
Australia's white-ball skipper Aaron Finch opened up on the decision of players to pull themselves out of the upcoming international assignments. While the 34-year-old admitted that the absence of the experienced duo of Pat Cummins and David Warner is understandable considering the "long-term plan" as they play all three formats for Australia. Meanwhile, Steve Smith's exclusion also made sense to Finch considering Smith's ongoing issue with the elbow injury.
However, the Aussie captain revealed that he was not expecting the limited-overs specialists to miss out on the upcoming tours. Referring to the likes of Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Jhye Richardson, Finch said, "The other guys – I was a little bit surprised. I’ve chatted to them all – a little bit surprised but it’s also understandable … but I wish that they were there. I think they would find it hard to justify going back and playing that second half of the IPL."
The comments by the national team's captain look like a clear warning to the players that they might come under scrutiny if they opt to play in the second half of IPL after missing the international assignments citing reasons of bubble fatigue.
It's a tough situation that everyone has been put in: Finch
The 34-year-old admitted that it's a really difficult and challenging situation amid the ongoing pandemic to play cricket while spending so much time in various bio-bubbles. He said, "It’s a tough situation that everyone has been put in, but personally, I would find it hard to do that knowing how difficult it is and how challenging it is mentally, and on your family as well. That’s what I would think.”
Considering the busy schedule of Australia after the conclusion of the 2021 T20 World Cup, there is a high possibility that the Aussie players will miss the second half of IPL 14 set to resume in UAE. While Pat Cummins has already ruled himself out, other players who could be absent for the mega event include Glenn Maxwell, David Warner, Jhye Richardson, Marcus Stoinis, Steve Smith, Riley Meredith, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams, Dan Christian, Chris Lynn, Andrew Tye, Ben Cutting, Jason Behrendorff, Moises Henriques and Adam Zampa.