Cricket: Western Australia will host the Sheffield Shield final against Tasmania, following their 138-run win over Victoria.
WA claim Shield hosting rights with win | 01:35We’re just one week away from the 17th edition of the Indian Premier League, with 16 Australians set to take part in the glamorous T20 tournament. Mitchell Starc and Travis Head make their long-awaited return this season, while high-profile names such as Josh Hazlewood and Steve Smith missed out after going unsold in last year’s Auction.
However, with a T20 World Cup on the horizon, this year’s IPL has been given crucial context for Australians hoping to participate in the marquee competition. Fringe players will be pushing their case for selection in the 15-person squad, while locks have a chance to refine their skills against the world’s best T20 cricketers. The 2024 IPL gets underway on March 22, with the Chennai Super Kings taking on the Royal Challengers Bangalore at M. A. Chidambaram Stadium.Starc’s nine-year IPL hiatus comes to an end this year, with the left-armer preparing to play his first match in the tournament since 2015. Snapped up by Kolkata for a record amount, the 34-year-old will lead a bowling attack that features Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman and West Indies icon Andre Russell. Starc is one of the most damaging white-ball bowlers in the sport’s history, but isn’t immune from being dropped, most notably during Australia’s most recent T20 World Cup match when he was axed for Kane Richardson.Cummins has never taken charge of a T20 side, but the Australian bowler has been named skipper of the Sunrisers in 2024, replacing South Africa’s Aiden Markram. The right-armed quick, who skipped the 2023 competition to focus on Test commitments, was signed by Hyderabad for what was a record sum for about two hours until Starc surpassed the figure. Cummins, who will join forces with Australian assistant coach Daniel Vettori, has been tasked with lifting the Sunrisers from the bottom of the IPL standings while also proving his worth as a short-format bowler ahead of the T20 World Cup, with the likes of Nathan Ellis and Spencer Johnson breathing down his neck.Green was traded to a rival franchise during the off-season, with the Mumbai Indians offering up the Australian all-rounder to the Royal Challengers in exchange for local superstar Hardik Pandya. The West Australian ended his 2023 IPL campaign with an unbeaten century against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, sending Mumbai into the finals. However, Green’s spot in the T20 World Cup squad is anything but a certainty, with the 24-year-old fighting for a plane ticket to the Caribbean.Arguably Australia’s greatest T20 cricketer, Maxwell will embark on his 12th IPL campaign later this month, joining a stacked Bangalore line-up that includes South Africa’s Faf du Plessis, Indian superstar Virat Kohli and countryman Cameron Green. Despite recent injury setbacks, the Victorian remains one of the sport’s most damaging hitters, particularly following his recent World Cup heroics in India.In one of the biggest surprises from last year’s IPL Auction, Johnson became engulfed in a bidding war between Gujarat and the Delhi Capitals that made him a millionaire. The left-armed quick had only made his T20 debut in January 2023, but he turned heads with impressive performances in The Hundred and the Big Bash League.Spencer Johnson of the Heat. Photo by Matt King/Getty ImagesStoinis is in desperate need of runs ahead of the T20 World Cup, with the all-rounder fighting to keep his spot in the national white-ball squad with the likes of Matt Short and Cameron Green also vying for spots. The West Australian will link up with former national coach Justin Langer at the Super Giants, where he scored 408 runs at 31.38 in 2023.Apart from the legendary MS Dhoni, there perhaps hasn’t been a better finisher in white-ball cricket history. David received his maiden Australian call-up after finishing the 2022 IPL with an otherworldly strike rate of 216.28, with his recent form against the West Indies and New Zealand securing his spot in the T20 World Cup squad. He will form a dangerous middle order alongside India’s Suryakumar Yadav and South Africa’s Dewald Brevis.Following his World Cup final heroics, Head secured his first IPL contract since 2017 after he was snapped up by the Sunrisers on a seven-figure deal. The South Australian looks destined to open the batting alongside David Warner at this year’s T20 World Cup, but it remains to seen what role he has with Hyderabad.Board approval is all that’s needed for Marsh to lead Australia at this year’s T20 World Cup, with national coach Andrew McDonald voicing his support earlier this week. However, the West Australian will be eyeing redemption in this year’s IPL after a horror campaign with the Capitals in 2023, when he scored 128 runs at 14.22 in nine matches with a strike rate of 131.96.Delhi Capitals The veteran opener will embark on his 14th IPL campaign this winter, joining coach and former teammate Ricky Ponting at Delhi. The Capitals had an underwhelming campaign in 2023, and Warner will be instrumental in the franchise’s push for finals.After missing last year’s IPL due to hamstring surgery, the West Australian is at risk of missing the start of the 2024 tournament after sustaining a side strain. Richardson received a national recall ahead of last month’s white-ball series against the West Indies, but was replaced by Queensland’s Xavier Bartlett, who more than took his chance in canary yellow.Wade will miss the first couple of matches of the IPL after choosing to remain in Australia for next week’s Sheffield Shield final, hoping to secure a title for Tasmania. The wicketkeeper won the IPL with the Titans in 2022, but didn’t contribute much with the bat, compiling 157 runs at 15.70 with no fifties in ten matches. Indian gloveman Wriddhiman Saha was preferred last year, meaning Wade could be tasked with carrying the drinks again in 2024.He might be the best white-ball spinner in Australia, but Zampa might struggle to crack into Rajasthan’s starting XI this year with local stars Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal in the squad.Lucknow Super Giants Turner, who has not made an appearance in the IPL since 2019, was signed by the Super Giants at the eleventh hour in this summer’s Auction, a surprise acquisition considering the West Australian’s lack of international cricket over the past 24 months. However, the Perth Scorchers captain has been nothing short of brilliant in the Big Bash League over the past couple of summers, helping the club win back-to-back titles. Turner missed the second half of this season’s BBL campaign after undergoing knee surgery, meaning he may miss part of the IPL pending recovery. If available, he’ll probably be used as a like-for-like replacement for countryman Marcus Stoinis.Behrendorff, Australia’s men’s T20I Player of the Year, enjoyed a stellar campaign with Mumbai in 2023, taking 14 wickets in 12 matches. The left-armed quick was also excellent during this season’s T20 tour of India, finishing the high-scoring campaign with an economy of 6.68. Behrendorff will be hopeful of squeezing into Australia’s squad for the T20 World Cup, but it appears that Mitchell Starc and Spencer Johnson are ahead of him in the pecking order.Despite being one of the most celebrated death bowlers in world cricket, Ellis’ spot in Australia’s T20 World Cup squad is anything but a certainty. The ‘big three’ of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins has left little wriggle room for an additional paceman in the starting XI, but if the Tasmanian seamer can turn heads at Punjab over the coming seven weeks, he could put some pressure on Cummins.
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