Need to be physically, mentally fresh: Cummins on IPL 2023 sabbatical

MELBOURNE: Australia captain Pat Cummins cited a busy international cricket calendar and keeping himself fresh for national duty as reasons for taking a sabbatical from IPL 2023.

The Australian pacer has been handed the ODI captaincy after former captain Aaron Finch’s retirement from the 50-over format and will look to build a formidable team with the ODI World Cup just a year away.

Cummins estimated that he will play more than 100 days of international cricket over the following 12 months while juggling his Test and ODI captaincy.

“I really do love playing in the IPL, but just looking at the schedule, the decision was pretty easy. You not only want to be physically fresh but, as captain, you want to be mentally fresh as much as you can to make decisions,” said Cummins as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

After overcoming gastroenteritis, Cummins will lead Australia in the ODI match against England on Thursday in Adelaide.

The three-game set has been criticised as meaningless given that England just won the T20 World Cup and that Australia has upcoming home Test series against the West Indies and South Africa before a busy 2023 that includes Test trips of India and England.

“Straight after the IPL, there are six Test matches, hopefully, we make the World Test Championship final. I was totally depleted after the last Ashes (in England) in 2019, so I just want to be going there as fresh as I can be,” said the Aussie captain.

Although the series has, as was expected, received little attention, it serves as Australia’s official start to preparations for the 2023 ODI World Cup against the current champions.

“The last 12-24 months, there has been a big focus on T20 cricket and I think that focus now shifts to ODIs with a World Cup in 12 months’ time. To challenge ourselves against the current title-holders and probably the most in-form team around the world, there’s a lot to play for,” Cummins said.

The right-arm bowler was released by Kolkata Knight Riders going into the IPL mini-auction.

Australia will host England for a three-match ODI series from November 17 at the Adelaide Oval, Adelaide.