You don't upset players like Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni: Dean Jones

Former Australian captain Dean Jones reacted to Michael Clarke‘a claims of the Australian team 'sucking-up to Virat Kohli' to save Indian Premier League contracts.

In an interview with Nikhil Naz on SportScreen YouTube channel, Dean Jones said that players like Virat Kohli enjoy being confronted in the middle because that is what gets them going.

"I will tell you the reason why they went silent to him (Virat Kohli). We went silent to Viv Richards, we went silent to Javed Miandad, we go silent to Martin Crowe when he comes to bat and there is a reason for it," Jones said.

Professor Deano made his stance against the 39-year-old's statement and also claimed that the Australian team doesn't want to upset/ provoke players like Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni.

"We know that you don't upset the bear. You don't upset Virat Kohli and you don't upset a MS Dhoni and you don't upset certain players because this is what they love. They want that confrontation, so don't give them any oxygen," Jones added.

Dean Jones concluded by stating the process of selecting a player into a IPL franchise: "I find that as a bit rubbish. You upset Virat Kohli and he won't pick you? Is Virat going to stop you from playing? It actually comes down to the coaches and the list managers who they pick."

Australian test team captain, Tim Paine gave his response to Michael Clarke's statement: "I'm not sure who was going easy on him; we certainly had a thing where we didn't want to provoke any fight with him because we think that's when he plays at his best," Paine told ESPNCricinfo.

"Who knows what will happen this series and, as we saw in the documentary, there was still quite a lot of heat in some of those games. I certainly wasn't holding back, but again the IPL's not a huge draw for me at the moment, so I had nothing to lose."

"But anytime our guys go out and play a Test match for Australia, they'll be giving their absolute all and I'm pretty sure they're not thinking about an IPL contract when they're running in, bowling to Virat," added Paine.

Tim Paine's deputy Patrick Cummins too gave his response against their former captain's claim of Aussie players going easy against Virat and co: "I think probably a bigger factor was six months before leading into that Indian series the media and everyone commentating on the Aussie cricket team were pretty clear in their direction in the way they wanted the Aussies team to go and that was playing a little bit less aggressively out on the field," Cummins told the BBC.

"I'd say that would have been a bigger factor than trying to win or lose friends out on the cricket field. But you never know, that might have been a factor for some players," added Cummins.