Australia Players Not to Leave IPL for Pakistan ODIs

Cricket Australia (CA) will allow its players to complete their IPL commitments without interruption from the ODI series in Pakistan. This was confirmed to Cricbuzz by a CA spokesperson, who said the Australian players "will still be in the IPL and will complete their commitments." Around a dozen Australians are currently featuring in the IPL.

The CA clarification comes in the wake of a three-match ODI series jointly announced by CA and the Pakistan Cricket Board. The matches are scheduled for May 30, June 2 and June 4, with the Australian players due to arrive in Islamabad on May 23 – clearly overlapping with the business end of the IPL, which concludes on May 31.

Among the dozen Australians currently involved in the IPL are Pat Cummins, Australia's regular ODI captain, and Mitchell Marsh. Other Australians in India are Travis Head, Tim David, Josh Hazlewood, Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis, Cameron Green, Mitchell Starc and Matthew Short.

The league phase of the IPL will conclude on May 24, by which time many players will be free of their IPL duties as six of the 10 teams would have been eliminated. However, players such as Cummins, Head, David, Hazlewood, Bartlett and Connolly may have to stay on as their teams remain in contention for the playoffs.

Cricbuzz reached out to Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings, the top two teams in the points table, and officials from both franchises confirmed that all their players, including the Australians, will honour their contracts in full and will not leave midway through the season. CA is yet to pick the squad for the Pakistan series, and there is a possibility that the selection could be made in a way that does not clash with the players' IPL commitments.

The upcoming bilateral ODI series will be Australia's first in Pakistan since March/April 2022. Australia earlier visited Pakistan this year in January/February for a three-match T20I series, which the hosts won 3-0.