File photo: George Bailey arriving in Pune ahead of KXIP's match vs RR
© BCCI
On March 29, Australia emerged triumphant at cricket's biggest showpiece event -- the World Cup -- at the MCG and then partied hard. Come the Indian Premier League, the buoyant Aussies still seem to be in party mode. (Complete IPL 2015 coverage)
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Former Australia cricketer and NDTV expert Dean Jones reckons most of the Australians in the IPL are a bit jaded. ('George Bailey needs to bat up the order for Kings XI Punjab')
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"I have no doubt that the Australian boys are a little bit jaded and are still getting over the euphoria of winning the World Cup," Jones told NDTV.
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Australians have always been considered crucial in the IPL but coming into the eighth season, couple of crucial players are having to miss out the start due to injuries and fatigue. (George Bailey rues tinkering with KXIP's batting order)
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Shane Watson, the skipper of Rajasthan Royals, sat out his team's tournament opener on Friday while Royal Challengers Bangalore pacer Mitchell Starc -- man-of-the-World Cup 2015 -- is set to miss a few early games. Mumbai's Josh Hazlewood, another vital cog in Australia's win, has pulled out of the tournament citing international workload.
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The highly-regarded Glenn Maxwell, who lit up the first week of IPL 2014, failed to get off to a similar start. He managed just seven runs in Punjab's loss to Rajasthan on Friday. Mitchell Johnson too looked out of sync despite picking up a couple of wickets. He conceded 20 runs in his final over.
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For the moment, only James Faulkner, the man-of-the-final in World Cup 2015, is keeping the Aussie flag flying high with his all-round show against Punjab.
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Acknowledging the fact that the Australian players have not started at their best, Jones raised a valid point regarding fatigue.
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"Player fatigue is a major thing. You can't be up and running for four-five months together. You need to know when to take a break."
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"The problem for teams like Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals is that the captains are Australian and if they want a bit of a break, the youngsters will also want to relax as well," Jones added.
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In the long IPL season, that goes on till May 24, it will be interesting to see the kind of impact Aussie stars make along the way on their respective teams' chances of lifting the coveted trophy.
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