IPL 2019: Top 5 foreign players who might not feature in the next season
With the ICC cricket World Cup scheduled to start right after the IPL 2019, the league stands to see a dearth of established names in the next season. Teams might want to prioritize fitness and not allow their key players to participate in the glitzy pan-Indian league. It is most likely that England and Australia could be among those international teams who will want to give adequate rest to their key players in order to have them in optimal shape for the big World Cup.
Another potential question is about the venue of the IPL. This question arises because India will be having their Lok Sabha elections in summer 2019. On the previous 2 occasions of the IPL and elections over-lapping, IPL was moved to a different country.
In 2009, the complete season of the Indian Premier League was held in South Africa, whereas in 2014, each team played their first 5 matches in the UAE. With UAE now serving as the home to Pakistan, and the World Cup to be held in England, these 2 venues seem quite unlikely. Also worth mentioning here is that there has been no particular announcement about IPL not happening in India next year.
Coming back to the availability of players, here is a look at the top 5 overseas players who might not feature in the 12th edition of the IPL.
#5. Pat Cummins
Pat Cummins is a 25-year-old Australian pacer. He is one of the Australian front-line pacers. Cummins is currently ranked 7 in the ICC Test Bowlers' Rankings. He is a part of the ODI setup for Australia, and will most probably travel to England for the World Cup in May 2019.
So, to reduce any injury scare, Australia might not allow Cummins to participate in the IPL, at least for the second half. As far as his IPL record is considered, he has featured in 2 outfits so far -- Delhi and Kolkata. He was bought by the Mumbai Indians in 2018, but he did not feature in a single game for the Mumbai franchise and Adam Milne was called in as replacement.
As for the 2019 season, Australian players are less likely to feature in the league, as the Australian Cricket Board has already stated.that they have decided to hold back most of its players for the World Cup. Hence, Mumbai Indians have released Cummins from the team for the upcoming season. Now what remains to be seen is if any franchise will show some interest in this young Aussie pacer and invest in him.