IPL 2019: Two Australian cricketers opt out of the auction

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is buzzing for the last few weeks in India well ahead of the next season. With the tournament set to take place and conclude just before the World Cup, the availability of the overseas players and the key Indian players is also unclear at the moment. On a day when the number of registered players for the auction were revealed by the Governing Council, a big news has come in stating that the two Australian players have opted out of the IPL auction.

According to ESPN Cricinfo, Glenn Maxwell and Aaron Finch have decided not to play in the cash-rich league next year keeping in mind the World Cup and the packed first half of 2019. Australia’s home summer is set to commence on Thursday with the India Test series and stretching it until January 18 after which they will host Sri Lanka for a couple of Test matches as well.

Moreover, Australia will also travel to India for five ODIs and two T20Is in a return series. Both Maxwell and Finch are key players for Australia in the World Cup and the latter is the skipper which is probably the reason Kings XI Punjab released him. Moreover, Finch is also the part of the Test side and will feature in the Ashes next year while Maxwell is still fighting for a place in the Test side.

Possible ODI series in the UAE

Australia are also likely to play the five-match ODI series against Pakistan in the UAE during the IPL. While the schedule for the same is not yet finalized, it could well begin in the last week of March and conclude in the first half of April. Moreover, the Cricket Australia (CA) has kept the May 2 as the cut-off date for their players to return home.

While it is still not clear if the remaining Aussie players who are certain to play in the World Cup are interested in playing the cash-rich league, Steve Smith and David Warner’s availability is also under the threat now.

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