With Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood unlikely to be available to their respective owners for the opening matches of the Indian Premier League 2026 season, Cricket Australia is closely monitoring the workload of its premier pace bowlers amid the international calendar.
The development means Starc, who represents Delhi Capitals, and Hazlewood of Royal Challengers Bangalore join an extended list of Australian players who will miss part or all of the upcoming tournament.
Earlier, Pat Cummins was dropped in the early stages of the match for Sunrisers Hyderabad, while Jack Edwards was ruled out for the entire season. Meanwhile, Chennai Super Kings-bound Nathan Ellis is also expected to miss out due to a hamstring injury.
Cummins featured in only one Test during the Australian summer due to a stress-related back injury. That appearance came in the third Ashes Test in December and marked his only outing in representative cricket since Australia’s tour of the West Indies in July 2025.
Hazlewood, on the other hand, missed the entire Ashes series with hamstring and Achilles concerns.
He hasn’t played much in recent months, despite appearing for select white-ball matches at home against South Africa and India, the series in New Zealand and the Sheffield Shield in November.
Meanwhile, Starc played a key role in the Ashes, playing in all five Tests and picking up the Man of the Series award after taking 31 wickets, leading Australia to a 4–1 victory.
He also participated in the latter stages of the Big Bash League season. Having retired from T20 Internationals, Starc was not included in Australia’s squad for the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka earlier this year, which was eliminated in the first round.
Cummins and Hazlewood were also absent from that match.
Looking ahead, Australia is scheduled to play up to 21 Test matches between August 2026 and July 2027, underscoring the need for careful workload management.
The IPL 2026 season will begin on March 28 and will run until the end of May.