Cricket Australia Urges Players to Decide on India Return Ahead of IPL 2025 Resumption

With the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 scheduled to resume on May 17 and run through June 3—just days before the World Test Championship (WTC) final at Lord's in London—Cricket Australia has left it up to each player individually to decide whether to return to India.

Though the governing body will provide its feedback after deliberations with the Australian federal government and security forces, players have been left to decide whether or not to go back to the tournament.

The IPL had previously been suspended on May 9 after an outbreak of hostilities between India and Pakistan. The escalation came after a terror attack in Pahalgam where Pakistan-backed militants killed 25 Indian nationals and one Nepali tourist.

"Cricket Australia will facilitate players in making their own choices whether to travel back to India or not," CA stated in a release issued on Tuesday. "We are keeping in touch with the Australian Government and BCCI regarding security arrangements and safety," the official website www.cricket.com.au quoted.

One of the challenges for Cricket Australia is that the prolonged IPL calendar now clashes heavily with WTC final preparation. Australian players' teams, if they make it to the IPL final, will still be busy with the league until June 3. The scenario affects not just players but coaches, support staff, and retired cricketers who are affiliated with different franchises.

A number of Australian cricketers who are most likely to play in the WTC final are presently engaged with IPL 2025. One such player is pacer Josh Hazlewood, who plays for Royal Challengers Bengaluru—a side well-placed in the playoff scenario, second-placed on the points table at the moment. Simultaneously, Pat Cummins, the Test captain of Australia, represents Sunrisers Hyderabad, who are out of playoff qualification but have three remaining games on their plate, including their last one on May 25 against Kolkata Knight Riders in Delhi.

Mitchell Starc is also in the thick of things with Delhi Capitals, who are top contenders for the playoffs. If they do make it to the final, Starc would be contracted until June 4 before departing for the UK immediately.

The other Australians who are likely to be part of the WTC team and are in action currently in the IPL are Travis Head (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Josh Inglis (Punjab Kings), and Mitchell Marsh (Lucknow Super Giants). Though Head's side is already eliminated, Marsh's LSG and Inglis' Punjab Kings are mathematically still in the running for the playoffs.

Cricket Australia also highlighted in its release that preparation for the WTC final will be coordinated with those opting to remain on for the rest of the IPL season.

"Team management will consider the preparation ramifications for the World Test Championship final for players who opt to participate in the remaining IPL games," the release stated.

Aside from the potential participants for the WTC final, many of the past and present players are involved with other roles on various IPL sides. Ricky Ponting is an appointed head coach at Punjab Kings with the assistant coach being Brad Haddin. Justin Langer leads the Lucknow Super Giants' coaching division, and there's Mike Hussey, a batting coach with Chennai Super Kings.

As far as player representation is concerned, Nathan Ellis represents CSK, Spencer Johnson represents KKR, and names like Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Owen, Josh Inglis, Aaron Hardie, and Xavier Bartlett are representing Punjab Kings. Josh Hazlewood and Tim David represent RCB, Jake Fraser-McGurk represents Delhi Capitals, and Adam Zampa is with the Sunrisers Hyderabad team.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) formally announced the resumption of IPL 2025 after India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire. The tournament was suspended after India retaliated against Operation Sindoor following the Pahalgam tragedy by attacking terror-related infrastructure in Pakistan. In retaliation, Pakistan launched drone and missile attacks on various Indian cities and military bases such as Jammu, Srinagar, Amritsar, Jalandhar, and others.

These efforts were successfully repelled by Indian defense systems, and as of now, no official reports have been verified to confirm any casualties or substantial damage.