Two million IPL carrot for Clarke but he remains doubtful

Michael Clarke could be offered a pay cheque of as big as USD two million to lead Pune Warrior in the soon-to-start Indian Premier League even as according to Cricket Australia the skipper cannot return to action for at least seven weeks.
Clarke could get only his base price of USD 400,000 by Pune Warriors at the auction in February which means that he is being offered five times more to play in the T20 league.
Clarke had missed the fourth Test in New Delhi and rushed back to country to get scans on his sore back.
A report in the 'Australian' said that Clarke was being pressured to captain the Pune Warriors - a move that would see his pay skyrocket.

"A senior IPL source told The Australian he could be offered as much as USD 2 million to take the job," the newspaper reported.
However, Cricket Australia Chief Medical Officer Justin Paoloni said Clarke's scans confirmed that his current lower back injury is an exacerbation of previous issues he has had with his spine which needed to be managed "carefully".

"He still has pain with basic activities and is not back to full function as yet. He also has a hamstring injury that has been a concern for most of the summer and will complicate his return.
"Michael is having intensive rehabilitation for both his back and hamstring but is still 7-10 weeks away from returning to training and playing," Paoloni said.

Cricket Australia though was confident that there was no threat to Clarke's participation in Ashes series "but will know more over the coming weeks."
Clarke's intensive rehabilitation program will be overseen by the CA medical team and back specialists in Australia.
Clarke's manager James Erskine meanwhile said a decision had not been made but Clarke looked doubtful for IPL.