Aaron Finch
Aaron Finch (Image Credit: Twitter)

Aaron Finch, Australia‘s limited-overs captain, has now made clarifications, rather took back, his comments about Australian players playing in the UAE leg of the IPL 2021 and skipping the international matches.

Several Aussie stars including David Warner, Glenn Maxwell, Pat Cummins, Jhye Richardson, Marcus Stoinis and Daniel Sams had withdrawn from Australia’s tour to West Indies and Bangladesh – where they lost 4-1 in both the T20I series. Aaron Finch in June said those players would “find it hard to justify” if they featured in the IPL after skipping international tours.

Now almost all of these players will be playing in the second half of the IPL; Pat Cummins may pull out due to the birth of his child and there are doubts over Steve Smith too because of his elbow injury.

David Warner, IPL
David Warner will return to the IPL in the UAE. (Image Credit: Twitter)
The skipper now, retracting his stance, stated that he hadn’t considered the toll of the bio-bubbles because of which the players had pulled out of the West Indies and Bangladesh tours.

“(Those comments) were more based around the bubble fatigue and I probably didn’t take into account the toll the full summer took on guys as well,” Aaron Finch told cricket.com.au.

“That was a long summer, especially for guys who started on the UK tour. I probably didn’t take that into account when I made those comments before the West Indies tour. If you throw all that together and throw in the IPL straight on the back of it, and a lot uncertainty around that and some really strict bubble protocols – I didn’t take that into account,” he added.

Guys have still got to be really mindful of how they manage themselves during that (IPL): Aaron Finch

The Aussie skipper, however, also reckoned that the players need to be careful of their physical and mental health as they will be needed to spend a lot of time in bio-bubbles while playing high-level cricket in the coming months.

Read More  Not CSK! Steve Smith names the IPL team that will stay unbeaten in IPL 2024

After the IPL, and the T20 World Cup in the UAE, Australian players will feature in the high-octane home Ashes series – the would be a continuous cricket and bubble life from mid-September to mid-January for these cricketers.

Aaron Finch, Justin Langer.
Aaron Finch, Justin Langer. Image-Sky Sports

“The fact that guys have had a decent break now, they will be charged up and ready to go for the IPL and then the T20 World Cup, then a huge summer against England. Guys have still got to be really mindful of how they manage themselves during that (IPL) period, because there is no escape from the game. There’s no going down the road to relax and grab a coffee, or having a beer together outside the cricket environment,” Aaron Finch further said.

Australia are placed alongside England, West Indies, and two other qualifying teams in the Group 1 of Super 12 stage in the T20 World Cup.

Also Read: England Openers Are Of No Use! Ramiz Raja Slams Rory Burns and Dom Sibley’s Poor Batting Show In Lord’s Test