Teams have been left in a lurch over players joining the camp, either due to injury or due to the ongoing war in West Asia. The next edition of the cash-rich tournament is all set to begin from March 28 onwards. However, several key players – mosty Australians – are unavailable for the first part of the tournament. This includes stars like Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, among others. Ahead of IPL 2026, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has clarified that it is left up to the franchises as to who will be a part of IPL 2026.
BCCI puts the onus on IPL franchises
As per news agency IANS, an IPL source said that it is up to the franchises to decide which foreign players will be a part of the season in IPL 2026. The source pointed out that while some stars are injured, some others might not have been given clearance due to workload concerns.
“It is up to the franchises to decide on the participation of some foreign players who are missing the tournament. Only the injured players are yet to join, while some others are managing workload concerns. That decision will rest with the franchises. The IPL will commence as scheduled and with full fanfare,” an IPL offiicial said.
The official’s words stem from the fact that the Australian trio of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc will miss a few games at the start of IPL 2026 for their respective franchises. While Cummins and Hazlewood have been injured for months together now, and are yet to recover, Starc is still yet to get a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Cricket Australia to take part in IPL 2026 for DC. The pre-IPL 2026 camps for most of the teams are already underway but some foreign players are yet to link-up. The latest update suggests that the BCCI has transferred the responsibility to the franchises to decide to their overseas stas’ participation in IPL 2026.
So far, Cummins and Hazlewood – who have been recovering from injuries – are set to miss the first few matches of IPL 2026. Ishan Kishan has been named SRH’s captain for the first few games. RCB haven’t named a replacement. Similarly, DC have not named a replacement for Starc, which means they expect him to link up with the side soon.
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