Taylor surprised by Smith's decision to stay back at IPL

MELBOURNE: Taylor also ridiculed another Australian payer, Mumbai Indians' Chris Lynn, for suggesting that Cricket Australia should arrange a chartered flight to bring back players at the end of the tournament.

DC coach Ricky Ponting with Steve Smith. "...his contract was about Australian dollars 350,000 (Rs 2.2 crore with Delhi Capitals), which is not to be sneezed at but for a guy like Steve Smith, it's not as big a contract as it probably should have been. I was surprised he decided to go."

Former Australia captain Mark Taylor is surprised that "so many" of his compatriots have stayed back in India to fulfill their IPL commitments amid a raging pandemic, especially someone like Steve Smith who does not have "as big a contract as it probably should have been."

As many as 14 Australian players along with some coaches and commentators are currently in India to participate in the IPL, from which three players of the country had pulled out owing to the unprecedented COVID-19 surge.

"I was a little surprised that so many of the Australians went over there. If you're Pat Cummins, he's on something around (Rs 15.5 crore), so that's very hard to knock back for six weeks of playing cricket," Taylor said during a discussion on 'Channel 9'.

"Steve Smith was an interesting one because his contract was about Australian dollars 350,000 (Rs 2.2 crore with Delhi Capitals), which is not to be sneezed at but for a guy like Steve Smith, it's not as big a contract as it probably should have been. I was surprised he decided to go." Agencies

Also Read: Rajasthan Royal's Unadkat pledges 10% of IPL earnings to fight Covid

Also Watch: Assam Election Result, 2021: Candidates thank people after winning