IPL 2025: Pat Cummins reacts to BCCI going strict on overseas players

Australia fast bowler Pat Cummins has finally opened up about the new IPL rules for overseas players from the next season of the tournament. Cummins, who is also the captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad, became the second most expensive player in IPL with a price of INR 20.50 crore.

He was signed by SRH before the IPL 2024 auction. The fast bowler played a key role in Sunrisers' run to the final. He bowled some match-defining spells on flat batting decks and was also impressive with his captaincy.

Over the years, a no. of overseas players pulled out of the season just days before the start of the tournament, leading to complaints from the franchises regarding their commitment to the teams.

After a complaint from the franchises regarding this issue, the IPL governing council decided to tweak the rules and ban the overseas players for two years if they opt out of the season barring any injury or genuine reasons.

Also read: Rishabh Pant finally addresses Rohit Sharma's shocking 'fake injury' claim from T20 WC 2024 final

Pat Cummins breaks silence on new rules for overseas players from IPL 2025

Pat Cummins has not been a regular feature in the IPL. He has skipped a few seasons in order to keep him afresh for national duties. But in the last few months, he has shown his eagerness to play in the tournament.

While speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian quickly spoke about the strictness of the rules regarding overseas players and claimed that he has never pulled out of a season. However, he admitted that international duties, especially Test cricket, are at the top of the priority list.

"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 said.

"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," he added.

Pat Cummins in IPL 2024

Pat Cummins played all 16 matches for Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2024 and finished with 18 wickets at an average of 31.44 an economy rate of 9.28. He was extremely efficient with the management of his resources and bowling changes.

Cummins was appointed Sunrisers captain after his heroics with Australia. He led Australia to a World Test Championship (WTC) title win and an ODI World Cup win in 2024. SRH, who were desperately looking for some spark in their leadership, chose Cummins for the role.

Does captaincy burden Pat Cummins?

Speaking about his captaincy, the 31-year-old also spoke about the burden as a captain. Currently, he is Australia's Test and ODI captain and is also expected to continue as the captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad in the upcoming season.

"[That’s] still a bit of a wait and see, but maybe I can go a little bit longer than I first thought (on his captaincy). I feel like I can manage a lot more than what I did back then, just by getting better at it and having some wonderful people around that help as well. But that might change as well with younger guys coming into the team in the next few years," Cummins elaborated.

Pat Cummins will be a key player for Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 where he is likely to lead the team. In his long list of records, he hasn't won a Test series against India so far and would like to win the trophy this time around.