Michael Clarke blasts Australian media's double standards on Pat Cummins attending Coldplay concert during AUS vs PAK series

Former Australia captain Michael Clarke has claimed that he would have faced a high amount of scrutiny had he been in place of Pat Cummins. Recently, Cummins attended a Coldplay concert in Sydney at the time when Australia was losing badly to Pakistan in the final ODI at Perth.

Cummins attended the concert with his wife at the Accor Stadium in Sydney. The picture of him attending the concert went viral on social media and he was slammed for not prioritizing international cricket in a deciding match of a series.

It is to be noted that Pat Cummins was rested for the final ODI against Pakistan in order to keep him fresh for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India. A few more Test players like Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood were also rested for the decider, leaving Australia with a weakened line-up.

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Michael Clarke speaks on Pat Cummins attending Coldplay concert

While speaking on Around the Wicket, ESPN's cricket show, Michael Clarke boldly claimed that he would have faced a lot of scrutiny from the media if he had been in the place of Pat Cummins.

Clarke feels that since there was a gap between the third ODI against Pakistan and the first Test against India, at least the batters could have played despite the bowlers getting rested.

"I think I would have been absolutely smashed by the media. I think I've said over the last few days how I felt about the Test players missing that last one day. I would have liked to have seen them play that game," Clarke said on the show.

"There was 11 days from the last one-dayer to the first Test, so I thought they could have all played. If Cricket Australia wanted to rest the fast bowlers, I understand that, but I'm pretty sure the batters that were left out probably could have played," he added.

Pat Cummins played the Major League Cricket 2024 after playing the T20 World Cup 2024. However, he was rested for the subsequent white-ball series in England as he opted to rest for the whole tour.

"You can do whatever you want" - Michael Clarke

While Michael Clarke claimed that he would have faced a lot of flak for attending a concert when his team was losing, he was fine with Pat Cummins's actions as the fast bowler has the freedom of doing whatever he wants on his off day.

"You get a day off, you can do whatever you want. So, from my perspective, I've got absolutely no beef with Patty going to whether it's Coldplay, a restaurant, whatever he wants to do," Clarke exclaimed.

"From recent history, and my time as Australian captain, I know how the fans see it, and how the media sees it, and probably because we lost the game, and lost the series, you just allow a door for the article to be written, and for people to criticize you," he added.

Pat Cummins' next assignment

Pat Cummins will be in action in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy where he will lead Australia in a five-match Test series against India. Cummins is one of the most important players for Australia as the home team looks to regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

The first match of the five-match Test series will be played in Perth from November 22. The next four Tests will be played in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney. Adelaide will host the day-night Test.