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Cricket Australia and the Australian national cricket team have been accused of not taking the upcoming ODI series against Pakistan seriously.
Pakistan will host the ‘Kangaroos’ for a three-match ODI series starting on May 30, but several of Australia’s first-choice players are missing from the series. With the IPL final scheduled for May 31, the series will clash with the Australian players’ numerous IPL commitments.
While announcing the teams, CA said that they will not interfere with Australian players in the IPL. As a result, several fringe players received call-ups, including 19-year-old Ollie Peake.
Full list of Australian players who missed the ODI series against Pakistan
Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood
Australia’s ‘Big Three’ fast bowlers have been rested not only because of IPL commitments but also because of their workload for the upcoming season. The team is scheduled to potentially play 21 Tests over the next 15 months, including tours of both India and England.
While Mitchell Starc’s Delhi Capitals failed to make the IPL playoffs, Hazlewood and Cummins will be in action towards the end of the tournament. Hazlewood is with Royal Challengers Bangalore and Cummins is the captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Cummins is also the full-time captain of the Australian team in both Test and ODI.
travis head
Head is currently linked with Cummins-led Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL, but has been confirmed as Australia’s opening batsman in next year’s ODI World Cup in South Africa.
Head has had a mixed IPL 2026 performance and he will be looking to do well in the playoffs.
Cooper Connolly, Xavier Bartlett, and Ben Dwarshius
These three players were also allowed to remain in the IPL. All three were playing for Punjab Kings in IPL and are not in the playoffs.
But when the Australian teams were announced, PBKS were expected to reach the playoffs after a strong performance in the first half of IPL 2026. Ultimately, last year’s runners-up were eliminated after losing 6 consecutive matches.
Connolly, Bartlett, Dwarshius and Head are all part of Australia’s next ODI series against Bangladesh in June.
Michelle Marsh
Marsh was originally named in Australia’s squad because his team, Lucknow Super Giants, was almost eliminated from the IPL when the squad was announced.
In the absence of Cummins, Marsh was made the captain of the team to face Pakistan. But now he is out of this series due to ankle injury.
Marsh and Head are now basically confirmed to be the country’s first-choice opening pair in ODIs, so it remains to be seen who replaces them.
Matt Renshaw is among the options Australia could use at the top of the order along with Marnus Labuschagne and Matthew Short.
In Marsh’s absence, his IPL teammate and wicketkeeper Josh Inglis has been named captain of the second-row team.
Pakistan vs Australia ODI series schedule
The three-match series is scheduled to begin on May 30, just a day before the IPL final. The opening match of the series will be played in Rawalpindi.
After this the action will move to Lahore, where the second and third ODIs will be played. The second ODI will be played on June 2 and the third on June 4.
Apart from the players mentioned in this article, Marcus Stoinis, Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell will also not be in action as all three have retired from the format.
Also read: Vijay Shankar ready to play for Kandy Royals; Joins former CSK teammate in Lanka Premier League
