Australian players involved in the Indian T20 League have received the go-ahead from Cricket Australia (CA) to rejoin their respective franchises for the remainder of the season, which is set to resume from September 19 in UAE.
The first half of the Indian T20 League was suspended in May due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India.
Cricket Australia wants its players to use the high-intensity Indian T20 League to find match-rhythm and aid their preparations ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup, slated to begin in October in Oman and UAE.
"There's no doubt it's their best preparation, in those exact conditions playing probably the strongest domestic T20 tournament in the world," Ricky Ponting, head coach of Team Delhi in the Indian T20 League, told SEN radio.
There are 20 Australians that are a part of Indian T20 League teams. However, Pat Cummins is unlikely to feature in the league having only just become a father recently. Former Aussie skipper Steve Smith’s availability will also depend on his recovery from an elbow injury.
However, franchises can recall players who had earlier withdrawn from the tournament when it began in India, should they make themselves available. This means that the likes of Josh Hazlewood (Chennai), Mitchell Marsh (Hyderabad), and Josh Philippe (Bangalore) could be in the mix.
A few players like Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Daniel Sames, Marcus Stoinis, and Glenn Maxwell opted out of recent international tours due to bubble fatigue. It remains to be seen if they will feature once the tournament resumes having been a part of the Aussie contingent that had to travel home via Maldives after the Indian T20 League was suspended in the first week of May.
After the conclusion of the Indian T20 league, the players won’t have much of a break before the Super 12 stage of the ICC T20 World Cup gets underway.
Australian players with Indian T20 League contracts:
Glenn Maxwell, Dan Christian, Kane Richardson, Josh Philippe, Adam Zampa, Daniel Sams (Bangalore); Moises Henriques, Riley Meredith, Jhye Richardson (Punjab); Jason Behrendorff, Josh Hazlewood (Chennai); Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn (Mumbai); Pat Cummins, Ben Cutting (Kolkata); David Warner, Mitchell Marsh (Hyderabad); Steven Smith, Marcus Stoinis (Delhi); Andrew Tye (Rajasthan)
Featured photo : Munir Uz Zaman / AFP
