Pat Cummins has put his country before Indian Premier League millions and decided he won’t play in the T20 tournament in 2023.
The Australian Test and ODI skipper pointed to a packed international calendar that includes a tour to India, an Ashes and then an ODI World Cup as reasons for his decision.
Cummins was only recently given the ODI captaincy to add to his workload as Test skipper, and as an all-format player for his country, he wants to “task some rest” instead of taking a million-dollar IPL deal.
“I’ve made the difficult decision to miss next year’s IPL,” he announced on social media.
“The international schedule is packed with Tests and ODIs for the next 12 months, so will take some rest ahead of an Ashes series and World Cup.”
Cummins signed one of the richest deals for an international player in 2023 when the Kolkata Knight Riders signed him for more than $3m.
He returned to the same team last year for $1.34m.
Cummins joins fellow quick Mitchell Starc in skipping the IPL in favour of rest in a packed international schedule.
