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Aaron Finch has been left off the Kolkata Knight Riders’ retained list, joining Pat Cummins who announced earlier this week he would forgo the Indian Premier League (IPL) to focus on his commitments to Australia.
It is not clear whether the decision was made by Finch, the franchise, or was mutually agreed.
It had been reported that KKR was looking to cut Finch after a poor campaign in this year’s edition in which Australia’s T20 captain scored 86 runs in five matches.
But Indian site Sportstar this week quoted ‘a source close to Finch’ saying, “At this stage, Aaron is still deciding if he would want to participate in the IPL. He has a young child at home, and now the event goes for 10 weeks which is too long.”
Finch, who has represented a record nine IPL franchises, went unsold in the IPL 2022 auction but later replaced English opener Alex Hales who withdrew citing ‘bubble fatigue’.
Earlier on Tuesday Aussie Test and ODI skipper Cummins said on social media: “I’ve made the difficult decision to miss next year’s IPL. The international schedule is packed with Tests and ODIs for the next 12 months, so will take some rest ahead of an Ashes series and World Cup. Thanks so much to [KKR] for their understanding.”
Other Australians omitted when the retained lists were revealed on Tuesday were Daniel Sams, Riley Meredith (both Mumbai Indians), Andrew Tye (Lucknow Super Giants) and Nathan Coulter-Nile (Rajasthan Royals).
With Jason Behrendorff having been traded from Royal Challengers Bangalore to Mumbai that left nine Australians lined up for the 2023 campaign, plus any bought at auction on 23 December.
There is considerable interest in whether Cam Green will put himself forward for that.
How much demand he is in may depend on how many of England’s T20 world champion all-rounders are on the market with Ben Stokes and Sam Curran among the most notable unsigned stars.
Two T20 World Cup winners were surprisingly cut: Hales and Chris Jordan.
Hales’ match-winning 86 not out in 47 balls in the semi-final against India was not enough to win him a fresh deal at KKR while Jordan was left out by Chennai Super Kings despite coming into the England side as a death bowler in the semi-final and final.
The most expensive player axed was New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson, who had captained Sunrisers Hyderabad on a A$2.5m retention last season.
Australians confirmed in IPL 2023: Josh Hazlewood, Glenn Maxwell (Royal Challengers Bangalore), David Warner, Mitch Marsh, (Delhi Capitals), Tim David, Jason Behrendorff (Mumbai Indians), Matthew Wade, (Gujurat Titans), Marcus Stoinis, (Lucknow Super Giants), Nathan Ellis (Punjab Kings).
© AAP
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