Image Credit- BCCI
For many players,
the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) will signal the start of over three months
of T20 cricket, culminating in June’s World Cup in the Caribbean and the USA.
The IPL begins on March 22. As is customary, there is a sizable returnee contingent
among the many Australians competing. Here are a few things to watch out for
from an Australian perspective.
Twelve, maybe
thirteen, members of Australia’s T20 World Cup roster are confirmed. However,
national selector George Bailey has stated publicly that the final
determination of the available spots will take into account players’ IPL
performances.
The people who stand to gain the most over the next two weeks are Cameron Green
and Spencer Johnson. Prior to the New Zealand Test series, Green was
purposefully permitted to concentrate on red-ball cricket rather than playing
the Twenty20 Internationals, and his 174 not out in Wellington was a convincing
result. The fact that he will have a whole IPL to hone his T20 skills was taken
into consideration by the selection.
Green was traded
from the Mumbai Indians, and if he performs well for Royal Challengers
Bangalore (if he can reach the XI), his versatility will make him a strong
choice. If he covers more ground than Steven Smith, that might be the question.
In the meanwhile, Johnson trails Nathan Ellis in the order of preference for
pace should Australia choose to choose only the four specialist quicks. Johnson
had an outstanding BBL before bowling with pace and aggression against the West
Indies and, for a little while, New Zealand, so he is doing all in his power to
put pressure on the selectors. He might be a strong choice if he lives up to
his AU$1.78 million price tag with the Gujarat Titans.
There has been a
significant lapse in Mitchell Starc’s IPL appearances. Due to an injury and a
desire to focus on Test cricket, he was not able to play for the Indian cricket
team until 2015. In that team, AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle, and Virat Kohli were
the top three players. Starc finished the 2015 season with 20 wickets at 14.55
with an economy of just 6.76, adding to his 34 wickets at 20.38 total with an
economy of 7.16.
This time, Starc will play for the Kolkata Knight Riders. Shortly after
teammate Pat Cummins broke his own record, Starc shattered the record for the
highest price at the auction, bringing home an incredible AUD$4.43 million.