Pat Cummins, IPL or Test Match? Australia captain Pat Cummins reaffirmed that playing Test cricket for his country is his No. 1 priority. Cummins said that he has not yet decided on his future in the next season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Cummins led Sunrisers Hyderabad to the final of IPL 2024 when he was bought by the franchise for Rs 20.50 crore, making him the second most expensive player in the history of the tournament. Ahead of the IPL 2025 season, a mega auction is scheduled to take place later this year, in which each team will add a total of six players (maximum five capped players including Indians and foreigners and maximum two uncapped players) from their existing squads through retention or right to match. (RTM) option.
With the important five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy to be held next month, Cummins is focused on playing for the country. However, the fast bowlers are aware of the new IPL rules for overseas players, which make them “ineligible to register for the following year’s player auction” if they do not register for that season’s player auction, while another rule makes players eligible for the IPL. Bans players for two seasons if the player makes himself unavailable before the start of the season after being selected in the auction.
“I’ll be figuring out what this season looks like in the next little while,” Cummins told the Sydney Morning Herald. “There’s been a slight change in the rules, but I don’t know if it would have affected me in the past, I’m not going to be looking forward to the auction.” The latter never panned out. But that’s another factor to consider with the IPL.”
“Test cricket is obviously the No. 1 priority, the World Cup is right there, the calendar is never going to get less busy, and I’m not getting any younger, so those things have always been a consideration, and moving forward But there will be more. But needless to say, playing cricket for Australia, especially Test matches, is my number one job and priority.
Cummins expects the upcoming home series against India to be another close match, as the visiting team has won the last two series in Australia. “There has always been an element of that in the few home series I have played against India. The last series was limited to the last session at the Gabba on the last day of the last Test match,” he said. The Australia captain said, “It is with this in mind that It’s a good thing to keep; It is a long series and it can be a tough fight till the last match, so you have to manage your resources.”