Melbourne, Nov 07, 2022, IANS

Melbourne, Nov 7 (IANS) Former Australian allrounder Simon O'Donnell is extremely upset with skipper Aaron Finch's comment that the side was "fatigued" in its defence of the T20 World Cup title at home.

"That gets up my goat, that," said O'Donnell when reminded on sen.com.au on Monday about Finch using the word "fatigued" before the tournament had even started.

O'Donnell added that, scheduling was something that needs to be discussed threadbare and addressed, especially when it was coming from a team captain. Australia played 15 white-ball games in a month coming into the World Cup, and only Pakistan had a more hectic schedule.

O'Donnell also indicated that he was not happy with the players coming into the World Cup after playing two months of IPL and then giving the excuse of being fatigued.

"I think that's (packed schedule) a problem that needs to be further discussed and addressed, particularly when a captain of the national team is saying it before a tournament starts. That's white flag stuff before it even starts.

"We understand where that fatigue comes from and why it's there. I'm sure they'll have those discussions, but we can't go to tournaments like this and still play in the IPL and all the things we do outside of playing for Australia.

"People are putting a lot more importance on outside tournaments than they are of climbing the ladder to get to play for Australia and missing an IPL to make sure they're right for a tournament like this. I must admit, the fatigue (excuse) doesn't hold water with me," he added.

O'Donnell added there cannot be any excuse while playing for the country, and wished the team doesn't come up with the same excuse ahead of the ODI World Cup in India next year.

"You're playing for your country. Before you play a tournament for your country, you're saying 'we're very tired'. It's just not right. I'm not saying they weren't fatigued, but if they were, something has to be addressed. You can't now go to the 50-over World Cup and say 'we're tired'.

"You've got to have a build-up to these things and issue a level of importance to them. We were sold going into this World Cup on, 'oh the team is this and the team is doing this and we've picked our squad and we're building up to defend our title', it was a pretty poor defence.

"In saying that, no nation has hosted it and won it in the 50 over form or the 20 over form. There is extra pressure that comes with having it in your own country. India play all the time in all three formats. They play constantly and they're not tired. That's not an option. Or they don't admit it. It is a privilege to play for your country," he added.