Australian players to prioritise IPL 2026 over Pakistan ODIs

Sydney, May 7 (IANS) Australia have been dealt a blow ahead of their upcoming three-match ODI tour of Pakistan later this month as their top players, including captain Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc, will reportedly be missing the series as the dates clash with the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 finale, scheduled on May 31.

According to the schedule released by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Australia's tour will begin on May 30, with the first ODI to be played in Rawalpindi, followed by the remaining two matches on June 2 and 4 in Lahore.

The ODI series is clashing with the IPL 2026, whose group stage will end on May 24, and the players except the top four teams will be free and available, but the rest will take part in the playoffs, with the final to be played on May 31.

As per the report in Cricbuzz, Cricket Australia (CA) will allow its players to complete their IPL commitments without interruption from the ODI series in Pakistan. "Australian players will still be in the IPL and will complete their commitments," a CA spokesperson was quoted in the report.

There are currently 13 Australian players involved in the IPL, which include Cummins, Mitchell Marsh, Travis Head, Tim David, Josh Hazlewood, Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis, Cameron Green, Mitchell Starc, and Matthew Short.

Only Starc, Inglis, Green, and Short's IPL sides are not in the top 4 in the IPL, and if the points table remains the same, then Australia will miss many big names on the Pakistan tour.

Another report in The West Australian claimed that regardless of the availability of Cummins, Hazlewood and Starc will be rested from the series and the follow-up in Bangladesh, as they all work back from injuries after the successful Ashes series.

Cummins has only played two ODIs since their triumph in the 2023 World Cup. If he misses the Pakistan tour, his next assignment may be the tour of Zimbabwe and South Africa in September.