"Series on the line": Clarke on Australia resting players against Pakistan in 3rd ODI

Sydney : Former cricketer Michael Clarke questioned Australia's decision to rest senior players against Pakistan in the third ODI and said that the series was on the line and they should have played it.

Before the third and final ODI, the series between Australia and Pakistan was levelled at 1-1, however, the Aussies rested a few senior players from the game in Perth and conceded an eight-wicket defeat against the Men in Green on Sunday.

Speaking on The Big Sports Breakfast, Clarke said that the Australian players who are a part of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy squad could have easily taken part in the third Test against Pakistan since there are almost 11 days left for the first Test match of the series against India in Perth.

He added that Australia did not care about losing the series against the Men in Green for which they could decide to drop the "big fish".

"I'm just a bit confused, so 11 days between now and the first Test (Perth Test), why can't the Aussie boys who are part of this Test series play in the one-dayer? If Australia had won the first two games, then you can understand why they rest their big fish, but it was series on the line. I feel like we obviously don't care about losing that series," Clarke said.

"If you're not going to care, we're not going to care. You can't expect the fans to want to come and watch one-day cricket. We are bagging one-day cricket, no one is turning up, hasn't got the interest," he added.

During the game against Pakistan in the 3rd ODI match, Aussie skipper Pat Cummins, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Starc, Steve Smith, and Josh Hazlewood were rested because of the upcoming BGT trophy.

The Border-Gavaskar Trophy will kick off from November 22 in Perth. Adelaide and Brisbane will host the second and third Test matches of the series, respectively. The iconic Boxing Day Test will be played in Melbourne. The final and fifth Test of the series will take place in Sydney from January 3.

Australia started the three-match ODI series against Pakistan with a narrow two-wicket victory in Melbourne. However, they conceded defeat in two consecutive matches in the series which helped Pakistan to clinch a historic series win over the Aussies on their home turf.