'They were too scared to sledge Virat Kohli,' former skipper Michael Clarke questions Australian cricketers' mindset

Former Australia captain Michael Clarke believes Australian cricketers have become ‘softer’ towards Indians and particularly Virat Kohli as they do not want to miss out on million-dollar IPL contracts. Clarke, speaking on Big Sports Breakfast, mentioned that probably during India tour of Australia in 2018-19, fear of sledging Kohli played out in Australian minds. [caption id=“attachment_3874161” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Michael Clarke. AFP[/caption] He said, “Everybody knows how powerful India are in regards to the financial part of the game, internationally or domestically with the IPL. 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.” Clarke questioned this thought process, saying that making $1 million in six weeks have softened Australian cricket in recent times. He added, “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’. I feel like that’s where Australia went through that little phase where our cricket became a little bit softer or not as hard as we’re accustomed to seeing.”