Table of Contents
Cricket Australia and the Australian National Cricket Team have been accused of not taking their upcoming ODI series against Pakistan seriously.
Pakistan will host the 'Kangaroos' for a three-match ODI series starting on May 30, but many of Australia's first-choice players are missing from the series. With the IPL final scheduled on May 31, this series would have conflicted with several IPL commitments of the Australian players.
While announcing the squads, CA said that they would not interfere with the Australian players at the IPL. As a result, many fringe players, including 19-year-old Ollie Peake, received call-ups.
Full list of Australia players set to miss ODI series vs Pakistan
Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood
Australia's 'Big Three' pacers have all been rested owing to not just IPL commitments, but also their workloads for the upcoming season. The team is scheduled to potentially play 21 Tests over the next 15 months, including tours to both India and England.
While Mitchell Starc's Delhi Capitals did not make the IPL playoffs, Hazlewood and Cummins will be in action in the business end of the tournament. Hazlewood is with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and Cummins is the captain of the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Cummins is also the full-time captain of the Australian team in both Tests and ODIs.
Travis Head
Head is currently involved with the Cummins-led Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL, but is essentially confirmed to be Australia's opener come the ODI World Cup in South Africa next year.
Head has been having a mixed bag of an IPL 2026 and will be gunning to go gung-ho in the playoffs.
Cooper Connolly, Xavier Bartlett, and Ben Dwarshius
These three players, too, were allowed to continue in the IPL. All three of them were playing for the Punjab Kings in the IPL, and are not in the playoffs.
But when the Australian squads were announced, PBKS were touted to be in the playoffs after a strong first half to IPL 2026. Ultimately, last year's runner-ups lost 6 matches in a row to get eliminated.
Connolly, Bartlett, Dwarshius, and Head are all a part of Australia's next ODI series - against Bangladesh in June.
Mitchell Marsh
Marsh was originally named in Australia's squad because his team, the Lucknow Super Giants, were almost eliminated from the IPL when the squads were announced.
In Cummins' absence, Marsh was named the captain of the team to face Pakistan. But now, an ankle injury has ruled him out of this series.
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 that Australia can use at the top of the order alongside Marnus Labuschagne and Matthew Short.
In Marsh's absence, his IPL teammate and wicketkeeper Josh Inglis has been named the captain of the second-string team.
Pakistan vs Australia ODI series schedule
The three-match series is scheduled to begin on May 30, exactly one day before the IPL final. The series-opener will be played in Rawalpindi.
The action will then move to Lahore, where both 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 not be in action either, as all three of them have retired from the format.
Also Read: Vijay Shankar set to play for Kandy Royals; joins former CSK teammate in Lanka Premier League
