Cricket Australia asks players to decide on return to India as IPL 2025 is set to resume

Mumbai, May 13 (IANS) With the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 set to restart on May 17 and continue till June 3, just a week before the World Test Championship (WTC) final at the Lord's in London, Cricket Australia have left it to the individual players to take a call on whether to return to India to rejoin the world's richest league.

It will give its inputs after consultation with the Australian federal government and security agencies, but the players will have to decide on whether they would like to join IPL 2025, which was suspended for a week on May 9 because of fighting between India and Pakistan as India retaliated for the terror attack on innocent tourists by Pakistan-supported terrorists at Pahalgam, which resulted in the death of 25 Indians and one Nepali citizen.

"Cricket Australia will support players in their individual decisions whether to return to India or not," CA said in a statement on Tuesday. "We are maintaining communication with the Australian Government and BCCI around security arrangements and safety," www.cricket.com.au quoted Cricket Australia as saying in its statement.

The other matter of concern for Cricket Australia is the fact that the IPL 2025 stretched into June, and some of its key players may get tied up till June 3 if their respective teams reach the final. Besides players, coaches, support staff members and former players are also involved in the IPL.

Among the top players involved who could also be picked in the WTC final squad are pacer Josh Hazlewood, who plays for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who are currently placed second in the points table and in a good position to qualify for the playoffs. Skipper Pat Cummins' Sunrisers Hyderabad are out of contention for the playoff spots but have three more matches to play. This means he will have to be in India till after May 25, when they play their last match in Delhi against Kolkata Knight Riders.

Mitchell Starc's Delhi Capitals also have three matches to play, and they too are in strong contention to qualify for the playoffs. If they go all the way, Starc will have to be with the team till June 4 and then directly go to London.

The other possible Australian WTC players in IPL teams are Travis Head (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Josh Inglis (Punjab Kings) and Mitchell Marsh (Lucknow Super Giants). Though Travis Head's SRH are out of contention, Marsh's LSG still have a chance, as does Inglis' Punjab Kings.

In its statement on Tuesday, Cricket Australia has made it clear that the team management will work with the players if they decide to join the IPL bandwagon.

"Team management will work through the preparation implications for the World Test Championship final for those players who choose to play in the remaining IPL matches," Cricket Australia said.

Besides the above-mentioned players who are in contention for WTC final spots, there are other

current and former players involved in various roles in the IPL 2025. Ricky Ponting is the coach of Punjab Kings and has compatriots Brad Haddin as his assistant, Justin Langer is the head coach of Lucknow Super Giants while Mike Hussey is the batting coach of Chennai Super Giants.

Among other players, Nathan Ellis is with CSK, Spencer Johnson is playing for Kolkata Knight Riders, while Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Owen, Josh Inglis, Aaron Hardie, and Xavier Bartlett are representing Punjab Kings.

Besides Hazlewood, Tim David is also with RCB, while Delhi Capitals also have Jake Fraser-McGurk, and Adam Zampa is with SRH.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the resumption of the IPL 2025, which was suspended on May 9, after a ceasefire was agreed upon with Pakistan. India had launched Operation Sindoor in retaliation for the Pahalgam attack, targeting terrorist and military installations in Pakistan while Pakistan attacked Jammu, Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur, Bhatinda, Chandigarh, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai, and Bhuj, using drones and missiles.

These attacks were thwarted by the Indian defence systems, and the government has not confirmed any damage or casualties.

--IANS

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