Pat Cummins to miss IPL due to long schedule

After Mitchell Starc pulled out of this year's IPL, Australia's Test and ODI skipper Pat Cummins has excused himself from featuring in IPL 2023 too, citing a long schedule.

The right-arm pacer, who represented Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) during the last three seasons, shared his statement on missing IPL 2023.

"I’ve made the difficult decision to miss next year's IPL. The international schedule is packed with Tests and ODI’s for the next 12 months, so will take some rest ahead of an Ashes series and World Cup," wrote Cummins.

The cricketer thanked the franchise management for understanding and expressed hope to rejoin the team as soon as possible. 

It may be noted that Aaron Finch's absence is likely in the next year's cash-rich IPL episode.

With back-to-back Australian players opting out of IPL, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is under pressure as they acquired a separate two and half month window in Future Tours Program (FTP) 2023-27 to further strengthen their domestic franchise league.

According to the newly announced FTP, there will be no scheduled international cricket during the designated IPL window.