Despite being rested for the white-ball series against Pakistan, star Australian cricketers Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, David Warner and Glenn Maxwell are likley to miss the first week of the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) due to Cricket Australia’s (CA) policy of not allowing contracted players to feature in other tournaments while the national team is in action.
Notably, australia’s pace trio of Cummins, Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc as well as Warner and Maxwell have been rested for the white-ball leg of the Pakistan tour by the National Selection Panel (NSP), which announced a 16-player squad for the three ODIs and one-off T20I on the upcoming tour of Pakistan on Tuesday (February 22).
Notably, barring Mitchell Starc, who had opted out of the IPL auction for the fourth successive year, four of the aforementioned cricketers have a contract with IPL franchises.
These four cricketers however, can travel to India immediately after the conclusion of the Test series against Pakistan. They will need to complete their quarantine requirements and be available to play in the lucrative league from April 6.
Notably, the third Test between Pakistan and Australia is scheduled to be held from March 21 in Lahore.
Meanwhile, Australia’s squad for the three ODIs and the one-off T20I in Pakistan features other IPL bound players including Mitchell Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, Jason Behrendorff, Sean Abbott and Nathan Ellis.
All these players will now have to miss at least another week due to travel and quarantine requirements.
On the other hand, other Australian players Riley Meredith and Daniel Sams, who are not on a CA contract, will be free to join their respective IPL franchises after any state commitments are over, as will Tim David and Nathan Coulter-Nile, neither of whom carry any state contracts.
Matthew Wade, who was roped in by the newly inducted franchise Gujarat Titans, has not been picked for the one-off T20I against Pakistan with Josh Inglis set to take over the gloves after an impressive series against Sri Lanka.
“We have picked a talented and versatile squad with a number of challenges to juggle, including the tour structure of predominantly 50 over games, management of several multi-format players in the medium to long term; and our need to build experience and depth in preparation for two short-form World Cups within the next 18 months,” National Selector George Bailey said in a statement.
“We’re confident the squad can both compete successfully on this tour and continue our progress towards those crucial tournaments.”
The four games of the white-ball leg are scheduled to be played in Rawalpindi on March 29, March 31, April 2 and April 5 respectively.
Although, the schedule for the IPL 2022 is yet to be announced, it is tentatively expected to start on the weekend of March 26-27. In such a scenario, the cash-rich league will overlap with the three ODIs and one-off T20, to be played in Rawalpindi from March 29.
Australia’s ODI and T20 squad:
Aaron Finch (Captain), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Ben McDermott, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa