Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are unlikely to feature in the opening matches of IPL 2026, with Cricket Australia (CA) reportedly keeping a close watch on the workloads of its leading fast bowlers due to a demanding international schedule ahead.
This adds Starc, who represents Delhi Capitals, and Hazlewood, part of Royal Challengers Bengaluru, to a growing list of Australian players expected to miss either the start or a significant portion of the upcoming season.
Earlier, Pat Cummins had been ruled out of the initial phase of the tournament for Sunrisers Hyderabad, while Jack Edwards, also from the same franchise, was confirmed unavailable for the entire competition on Friday. Chennai Super Kings pacer Nathan Ellis is also likely to be sidelined due to a hamstring injury.
Cummins featured in only one Test during Australia’s home summer after dealing with a stress-related back injury. That appearance came in the third Ashes Test in December and marked his sole outing in representative cricket since Australia’s tour of the West Indies in July 2025.
Hazlewood, on the other hand, missed the entire Ashes series owing to hamstring and Achilles concerns. Although he participated in selected matches during last year’s home white-ball assignments against South Africa and India, as well as the away series in New Zealand, and played a Sheffield Shield fixture in November, he has largely remained out of action for several months.
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Starc led Australia’s bowling attack during the Ashes, playing all five Tests and earning the Player-of-the-Series award after claiming 31 wickets, a key factor in Australia’s 4-1 triumph. He also featured towards the end of the Big Bash League season. Having retired from T20Is, Starc did not take part in the T20 World Cup held in India and Sri Lanka in February–March this year, where Australia were eliminated in the first round. Cummins and Hazlewood were also absent from that tournament.
