MELBOURNE (Kashmir English): Cricket Australia said that four Australian fast bowlers are set to miss the Indian Premier League (IPL) partially or completely, which is set to commence on March 28.
Aussie pacers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are unlikely to be available for their first few games of IPL 2026 with the Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), respectively.
Starc will also not be available at the start of the league due to load management, while Hazlewood will miss the tournament due to a hamstring injury, as he also missed the entire series last summer due to hamstring and Achilles issues.
The Australian cricketing body said that it will be monitoring the workloads of its premier fast bowlers, keeping in mind the upcoming cricket season.
Australian players to miss IPL
Earlier, Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins had also been ruled out of the start of the tournament for facing a lumber stress issue. He played only one Test last summer due to a back stress injury and also missed the ensuing T20 World Cup.
Similarly, Jack Edwards (Sunrisers Hyderabad) was also ruled out of the IPL due to a foot injury. Chennai Super Kings player Nathan Ellis is set to be ruled out of the tournament completely due to a hamstring injury.
Ellis suffered a hamstring injury in the lead-up to the recent T20 World Cup held in India and Sri Lanka, but recovered and featured in Australia’s group-stage games. However, he reaggravated his hamstring during a domestic game in Hobart last week.
On the other hand, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Marcus Stoinis, and Tim David are among the 16 Australians on IPL rosters for the 2026 season, which is set to conclude in late May.
It should be remembered that the Australian Test team has to play 21 matches in the upcoming season, under which load management of multi-format players has been declared mandatory.
