New Delhi: Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood, who has been tipped to create ripples in auction room, will be available for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 only from the first week of May, as per the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) intimation to the teams.
Hazlewood, who played an integral role in Australia’s recent ODI World Cup win, will be away in March and April as the pacer and his wife are expecting their first child.
Hazlewood, who was released by the Royal Challengers Bangalore, has been bracketed in the top-of-the-line Rs 2 crore base price category in the player auction to be held in Dubai on Tuesday.
However, a report in ESPNCricinfo said that all the other Aussies players including World Cup hero Travis Head will be available for the entire duration of the IPL.
Experienced Bangladesh left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman will only be available for the period between March 22 and May 11.
However, fast bowlers Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam will be unavailable for next year’s IPL as they are expected to feature in Bangladesh XI in the home series against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe between March and April.
Lankan spinner Wanindu Hasaranga, who was released by RCB, and pacer Dushmantha Chameera, who was let go by Lucknow Super Giants, will be available for the duration of the IPL as they are not in the Test scheme of things of the Island nation.
The other Lankan players, who are part of the Test squad, will be available after the series against Bangladesh which ends on April 3, if they are bought in the auction.
However, young England leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed, who has a base price of Rs 50 lakh, has withdrawn from the auction.
The 19-year-old will fly back home after the five-match Test series against India.
Other England players in the IPL will be strictly monitored by the ECB managing director Rob Key in view of the T20 World Cup that starts in the West Indies and the USA in the immediate aftermath of the IPL 2024.
Harry Brook, Adil Rashid, Chris Woakes and Phil Salt are some of the high-profile England players in the auction pool.
Published 18 December 2023, 17:17 IST