Australia’s pace trio – Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood- will miss the early stages of the Indian Premier League 2026 (IPL 2026), with young pace bowler Josh Ellis also ruled out of the tournament due to injury. The news was confirmed by cricket.com.au on Friday.
Meanwhile, it is understood that Australia’s veteran speedsters, Starc, Cummins, and Hazlewood will not be available for their franchises when the IPL 2026 begins on March 28. Cricket Australia (CA) is taking a precaution with them as they are all set to have a long 12-month period, where they will play up to 21 matches, including tours of South Africa, India and England, before defending their ODI World Cup title in South Africa in 2027 as well.
Meanwhile, Test captain Pat Cummins played one Test match against England during the Ashes series in 2025 due to a back stress injury, while Hazlewood was ruled out of the entire Ashes series due to hamstring and Achilles issues as well. Notably, they also missed the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.
Starc, on the other hand, played all five Ashes Test matches and also played the Big Bash League. However, the left-arm pace bowler missed the T20 World Cup, having retired from T20Is late last year as well.
However, Pat Cummins is the captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad, whereas Mitchell Starc will play for Delhi Capitals, and five-time champions Chennai Super Kings bought Nathan Ellis for the IPL 2026 season as well.
In place of Cummins, SRH has confirmed that India wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan will be the stand-in captain for the 2026 season.
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