Starc joins Hazlewood and Cummins in being managed for start of IPL, while Ellis has reaggravated his hamstring injury
Australia’s four leading short-form pacemen will all miss at least the start of the Indian Premier League, with Nathan Ellis set to be ruled out of the tournament completely.
It’s understood none of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood will be available for their franchises when the game’s biggest annual tournament gets underway next weekend.
Cricket Australia is taking a cautious approach with their star multi-format bowlers given what lies ahead: from August, the Test side will play up to 21 matches in a 12-month period, including legacy-defining tours of South Africa, India and England, before defending their ODI World Cup crown in southern Africa in late 2027.
The trio’s availability will depend on progress in their return to play protocols over the next few weeks.
Test captain Cummins only played one Test last summer due to a back stress injury, while Hazlewood was out for the entire series due to hamstring and Achilles issues. Both also missed the ensuing T20 World Cup.
Starc played all five Ashes Tests and the back-end of the KFC Big Bash League, but not the World Cup having retired from T20 Internationals late last year.
The 36-year-old is being carefully managed having bowled more balls in Test cricket than any other paceman (bar India’s Mohammad Siraj) over the preceding 12 months.
Ellis has been revealed to have suffered a recurrence of the right hamstring injury he suffered in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup.
The 31-year-old recovered to feature in all four of Australia’s group-stage games, but Cricket Tasmania has confirmed he reaggravated his hamstring during last week’s One-Day Cup final in Hobart.
The Chennai Super Kings quick looks set to miss the entire IPL, with Cricbuzz reporting the franchise is looking at replacement options for Ellis.
Australia selector Tony Dodemaide said last month that Cummins and Hazlewood’s availability for the IPL but not the World Cup was purely a “timing issue”.
“If it was in reverse, the IPL was first and the World Cup was second, then they’d be missing the IPL to play in the World Cup,” said Dodemaide.
“It’s not going to be frustrating for us at all. We know their commitment to want to play and succeed for Australia.”
Cummins commands the highest salary ($3.7m) by an Australian at the IPL, captaining the Daniel Vettori-coached Sunrisers Hyderabad. Ishan Kishan is set to lead in his absence to begin the tournament.
Starc (who makes $2.15m at Delhi Capitals) and Hazlewood ($2.29m with Royal Challengers Bengaluru) are set to leave holes in their respective teams’ attacks to begin the tournament.
The Sunrisers will also be missing another of their Australian recruits with Cricket NSW confirming Jack Edwards, bought for $500k in December’s auction, will not play in the IPL due to a foot injury.
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.
