Australia head coach Andrew McDonald feels that the Indian Premier League (IPL) can be fitted into Australia’s packed schedule, but he emphasised the importance of managing load, especially for the fast bowlers. Australia is scheduled to play 20 Tests and 14 white-ball matches in the next 12 months, starting with a two-Test home series against Bangladesh next Thursday.

The 2027 IPL window is likely to come in between Australia’s five-Test visit to India and the WTC final before the Ashes clash against England. Cummins, Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Cameron Green, and Travis Head are all on the IPL radar, while Josh Inglis is set to ply his trade for Lucknow Super Giants.

Australia to Assess IPL Participation Based on Workload

McDonald emphasised that although it is part of Australia’s player management strategy, the IPL was by no means ruled out for their players. He added that the players’ exposure to its high level of competition may even have performance advantages, so long as their workload was considered.

“I’ve said this before, that the IPL is part of our management plan for a lot of our players, and to expose them in what I think is the best T20 competition around has got performance benefits as well, you just have to balance that out,” McDonald said.

“We saw in 2023, Cummins, Starc and Head didn’t play the IPL, and both went on to play a big role in that WTC final and Ashes series that we won as a team. So with a congested schedule, maintaining our fast bowling stocks will be really important going forward.

“We’ll see how the players are throughout the year, both on the medical and coaching staffs, and make those calls,” he added. “I know people are talking about national versus franchise teams and all of that, but what is important is we give our fast bowlers the chance to reset their bodies and get everything to get themselves into the best position possible over the 20 or 21 games that everyone seems to be talking about.”

McDonald noted that his players had proven to be responsible, in terms of managing their own workload, when it came to making those tough decisions in relation to their commitments.

“They want to play for Australia, an Ashes is coming up off the back of that, and hopefully a World Test Championship final and World Cup as well, so there are a lot of important games, particularly for Australia, during that window in which we’ll need to make some decisions.

McDonald felt they needed to make decisions based on how much each individual player had been involved in, rather than making assumptions months in advance.

“It will depend on how much those players have been involved in the meantime, so for example, how much are the quicks bowling in India? How is Travis Head, for example, in terms of his mental load after being away for that lengthy period of time? The starting point, and this isn’t to keep everyone happy, is that the IPL can fit, and if it can’t, we’ll know these players, and the leadership group, for example, are willing to make those sorts of decisions,” he said.