Australian vice-captain Michael Clarke on Thursday announced his unavailability for the second season of the multi-million dollar Indian Premier League, citing a busy international calender for the national team.
"I won't be going to the IPL," Clarke was quoted as saying by the Australian Associated Press on the eve of second season auction to be held in Goa, India.
Clarke, who has also given a miss to the inaugural edition of the lucrative tournament, understood the IPL would be a good preparation for the World Twenty20 Championships to be held later this year but the batsman said he wanted to utilise the time for a much-needed break from cricket.
"The lead up to the Twenty20 World Championships is the IPL so it's good preparation so it does not surprise me that a lot of players are going.
"(But) The most important thing for me is we've only got a couple of weeks off, we've got a very busy schedule. With me, with my body and time with my family, I want time off this year," he said.
"It's a wonderful thing for cricket, it's definitely improved Twenty20 cricket, its played a part in improving one day cricket," he added.
Clarke had attracted a reserve price of whopping USD one million dollars in the list of 43 foreign players nominated by the eight franchises for Friday's auction.
As many as 10 members of Australian cricket team and three retired greats will take part in the players' auction.
Ricky Ponting and Andrew Symonds are among the high-profile stars while the ex-players include Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden. Others are Nathan Bracken, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Simon Katich, Justin Langer, Brett Lee and Cameron White.
