'Test cricket is the No. 1 priority': Pat Cummins on his IPL future

New Delhi, Oct 12 (IANS) Australia captain Pat Cummins reaffirmed that playing Test cricket for his country is his No. 1 priority, adding that he is yet to decide his future in the next season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).  

Cummins led Sunrisers Hyderabad to the final of the IPL 2024 after being bought by the franchise for Rs 20.50 crore, making him the second-most expensive player in the history of the tournament. Ahead of the IPL 2025 season, the mega auction is set to take place later this year with each team can retain a total of six players (a maximum of five capped players including Indian and overseas and a maximum of two uncapped players) from their existing squad either via retention or by using the Right to Match (RTM) option.

With the important five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy to be played next month, Cummins is focused on playing for the country. However, the pacer is aware of the new IPL rules for overseas players that make them "ineligible to register in the following year’s player auction" if they don't register for that season's player auction while the other rule bans players for two seasons if the player makes himself unavailable before the start of the season after getting picked at the auction.

“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.

Cummins expect the upcoming home series against India will be another close-fought encounter after the visitors won the last two series in Australia.

“The couple of home series I’ve played against India there’s always an element of attrition to them. The last series came down to the last session at the Gabba on the last day of the last Test match," he said.

“That’s a good thing to keep in mind; it is a long series, and it might be tightly held until the last game, so you’ve got to manage your resources throughout," the Australia captain added.

--IANS

ab/