NEW DELHI: Australia captain Pat Cummins reiterated that his top focus is representing his nation in Test cricket. He also mentioned that he has not yet made a decision regarding his participation in the upcoming Indian Premier League season (IPL).
After being acquired by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 20.50 crore, Cummins became the second most expensive player in the tournament’s history and guided the team to the IPL 2024 final.
The mega auction is scheduled for later this year in advance of the IPL 2025 season. Each team will be allowed to retain a maximum of six players from their current roster through retention or the Right to Match (RTM) option, with a maximum of five capped players-including Indian and foreign players-and a maximum of two uncapped players.
Cummins is concentrated on representing the nation in the next five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The pacer is aware of the new IPL regulations pertaining to foreign players, which state that they will be “ineligible to register in the following year’s player auction” if they do not register for the player auction for that season. In addition, if a player withdraws after the auction before the season begins, they will be banned for two seasons.
“I’ll work out in the next little bit what this season looks like. There’s a bit of a tweak in the rules, but I don’t know whether that would have affected me in the past, I’ve never pulled out after the auction. But it is one more factor to consider with the IPL,” Cummins told The Sydney Morning Herald.
“Test cricket is the absolute No.1 priority, world cups are right up there, and then I think you use them as your tent poles and work out what else makes sense around that.
“The calendar is never going to get any less busy, and I’m not going to get any younger, so these things have always been considerations, and moving forward will become even more so. But needless to say, playing cricket for Australia, particularly Test matches, is my number one job and priority,” he added.