Former Australian skipper Michael Clarke has claimed that Aussies, as well as cricketers from other countries, were scared of sledging Virat Kohli and other Indian players due to the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The cash-rich Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) hosts IPL each year where a lot of foreign players participate in hopes of lifting the troping at the end of it.

According to Clarke, IPL is the main reason why international teams have gone against their previously known aggressive nature due to which Team India has benefited in the last decade.

“Everybody knows how powerful India are in regards to the financial part of the game, internationally or domestically with the IPL," Clarke said on air at the Big Sports Breakfast.

"I feel that Australian cricket, and probably every other team over a little period, went the opposite and actually sucked up to India. They were too scared to sledge Kohli or the other Indian players because they had to play with them in April,” he added.

The former batter then went on to add how players are now more focused on playing in the IPL and securing a fat contract from one of the franchisees and thus they do not want to sledge someone like Kohli, which may hamper their reputation and decrease their chances.

The 39-year-old also added how this is also the main reason why Aussie cricketers went a lot softer against Indian players in recent times.

“The players were like: “I’m not going to sledge Kohli, I want him to pick me for Bangalore so I can make my $1 million US for my six weeks. I feel like that’s where Australia went through that little phase where our cricket become a little bit softer or not as hard as we’re accustomed to seeing,” the former Aussie skipper added.

Last month, BCCI decided to suspend IPL 2020 till April 15, 2020, as a precautionary measure against the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation in India.

The virus has brought all sports activities to a halt and players are practising social distancing and self-isolation during the pandemic. The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the governments all around are urging people to stay at home.

The opening match of this year's IPL was supposed to be played between the most successful teams of IPL - defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) - at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on March 29.

On March 23, reports suggested that BCCI is also considering to further delay the league.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), there are 4281 confirmed cases of coronavirus cases in the country and 111 fatalities have been reported.