Former Australia captain Michael Clarke has revealed he narrowly escaped a potentially devastating road accident while travelling to the airport after the IPL 2026 final in Ahmedabad, describing the incident as one of the most frightening experiences of his life.
Clarke, who was in India as part of the tournament’s commentary team, said he was asleep in the passenger seat when the vehicle crashed into the back of a semi-trailer, leaving the front portion of the car lodged underneath the truck.
“I was asleep. I fell asleep after the game while travelling. Then I woke up to virtually the front half of the car being under a truck,” Clarke revealed.
“Interesting trip home, to say the least. Let me start by saying thank God for good people in India. That’s why I made it home safely,” Clarke said on the Beyond23 Cricket Podcast.
“I was asleep. I fell asleep after the game, travelling. Obviously, I wasn’t driving. Then I woke up to virtually the front half of the car being under a truck. The driver explained to me that the brake lights on the truck weren’t working. So my driver had hit the truck up the backside. Again, it was a big semi-trailer, and our car had gone underneath,” Clarke revealed. “The car’s certainly written off,” he added.
The 44-year-old escaped with minor bruises, but admitted the shock of waking up to find the vehicle crushed beneath a truck left a lasting impact.
Clarke also expressed concern for the driver, who he believes may have suffered a leg injury in the collision.
“I got away with some bruises, but I definitely think he had a little break in his leg. I was really concerned because he was so scared. It wasn’t his car; he works for the company,” Clarke added.
The former World Cup-winning skipper further expressed his gratitude to the BCCI officials, who consistently checked on both him and his injured driver following the accident.
“Everyone at the BCCI, everybody there, they’ve been checking in on him, and they’ve been checking in on me. They’ve been unreal. So I’m very grateful for that. It was a complete accident. These things happen all the time, but for me it was more the shock because I was fast asleep and then woke up to see myself so close to being underneath a truck,” he said.
(With agency inputs)