New Delhi, Mar 21(ANI): Former Australian skipper Steve Waugh has said that vice-captain Michael Clarke's decision to leave New Zealand mid-tour to deal with his relationship troubles does not place a question mark over his ability to captain Australia in future.
"It's a personal matter. I think all captains have had [personal] issues they've needed to deal with. You look at Ricky [Ponting] when he was in the Australian side he had the personal issue when he was at Kings Cross and he gained a black eye [from a doorman], yet he went from strength to strength afterwards," The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Waugh, as saying.
"You need to lead a normal life as well. I think Michael will show what kind of leader he is by the way he plays his cricket. He's done very well as captain for Australia in the Twenty20 and also the [some] one-dayers and I don't think it should affect his Test captaincy chances one little bit," he added.
Waugh further denied suggestions that Clarke's recent break-up with fiancée Lara Bingle highlights the pressure the team's schedule is placing the players and their partners under.
"I don't think it's a scheduling issue. I think the way of the world now is cricketers are high profile and when you have a high-profile partner, all of a sudden it can be hard," Waugh said.
"I think ever since David Beckham and Posh [Victoria], every country has wanted their own version of Posh and Becks. Unfortunately someone has to carry that mantle and [in Australia] it was Michael and Lara, and I don't think they understood how big it was going to get and the burden it [the public interest] was going to become," he added.
He emphasized that high-profile relations have their benefits, but there are down sides as well, as public scrutiny becomes a part. (ANI)
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