Clarke has flown back to Australia from the current tour of India as he decides what games to play this summer.
Australia captain Michael Clarke has gone back to Australia to receive treatment on the back injury that ruled him out of the current Test against India.
Clarke is going to receive further treatment back home but he only has two weeks until he is due to feature in the IPL for Pune Warriors.
Warriors franchise chief Sobrata Roy is also putting pressure on the Aussie skipper to captain his side, stating there will be an increase on the £255,000 base price they paid for Clarke if he takes the role.
The grueling IPL series would consist of at least 17 games in 44 days for the 31-year-old and that would be followed up by the Champion’s Trophy in England – as Clarke is also Australia’s one-day captain.
These two fast-paced tournaments would be a real strain on the Australian skipper, especially as he has the prospect of back-to-back Ashes series coming up in 2013.
If Clarke decides to lead Pune out in the IPL then he will face the challenge of coming up against his former international captain Ricky Ponting, in their first fixture against Mumbai Indians.
Mumbai also have current Test players Phil Hughes, Mitchell Johnson and Glenn Maxwell on their books to give the side a real Australian feel about them.
It seems that Clarke is under some real pressure at the moment and will have to make some tough decisions in the coming weeks to decide how best to manage his congested fixture list.
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