3 min readMar 21, 2026 11:44 AM IST
With just a few days left for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, there has been a growing list of players who are set to miss out on the initial phase of the tournament due to various reasons, but it’s the omission of the ace Australian pace trio of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc that has made the biggest headline.
Cricket Australia (CA) is reported to be taking a cautious approach to managing its pacers ahead of a gruelling international schedule, which means Sunrisers Hyderabad, Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru will be without their star fast bowlers for the first few games because of CA’s workload management plan.
Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra slammed CA for their conservative approach, saying the IPL franchises would, at some point, need to take a call on this.
He said, “I’m thinking, now if Mitchell Starc is also not coming at the start, what is Cricket Australia even doing? You didn’t let Josh Hazlewood come. Pat Cummins isn’t coming. And now you’re holding Mitchell Starc back too. He is absolutely fit. He’s already said goodbye to international T20 cricket. What has he even done in the last two months? After the Ashes, he hasn’t played any cricket at all. Despite that, you told him, ‘No, let him be, we’re not making him play, you take your rest because there’s a big Test season ahead, five Test matches against India.’ That’s right before the next IPL. Why are you doing this now?” said Chopra on his YouTube channel.
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“Although they (DC) have options like Ngidi, Chameera, Jamieson. But Mitchell Starc is Mitchell Starc. If Starc isn’t there, then I see this as a bit of a problem… teams will have to start thinking about what to do. Because if there’s no actual injury and it’s just workload management, which you anticipate because injuries might increase, so let’s manage workload and skip the IPL for a few days, then the franchises will have to take a call. What are we supposed to do and why are we doing this?” added Chopra.
Starc, picked up by DC for INR 11.75 crore, was a vital cog in their pace attack. Cummins was SRH’s captain and the leader of their pace attack. Similarly, Hazlewood was influential in RCB’s maiden title-winning run in 2025.
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‘It won’t sit well at all’
Chopra pointed out that if IPL is the biggest employer in the cricketing world, then something has to be done to stop this.
“When we’re hiring players from all over the world, in fact, we’re the ones providing the most employment to players, but when our marquee league comes around, you’re not available. So that won’t sit well at all. Why are you leaving?”
“This is something Indian franchises will have to think about. If we’re providing so much employment, but then players aren’t available for us, how will it work? I’m not saying anyone’s doing this intentionally,” he added.
