Australia’s three-match one-day series in Pakistan is pencilled in for 30 May, 2 and 4 June. Good timing for the PCB, far less so for Cricket Australia. The final week of the IPL, including the play-offs, runs until 31 May and that overlap is almost certain to strip Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc – plus a handful of others – from the travelling party.
Key details first
• 1st ODI: 30 May, Rawalpindi
• 2nd ODI: 2 June, Lahore
• 3rd ODI: 4 June, Lahore
• Squad expected to leave Australia: 23 May
• IPL play-offs: 26-31 May
Who is likely to miss out
Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings currently occupy first and second. That means Cummins and Travis Head (both SRH) and Cooper Connolly and Xavier Bartlett (both PBKS) would fly straight into the business end of the IPL rather than to Rawalpindi. Hazlewood’s Royal Challengers Bengaluru sit third, so he, too, should be tied up. Delhi Capitals are seventh, yet Starc’s contract and recent injury history make a late release highly improbable.
Selectors have already hinted they will tread carefully. “We won’t compromise our long-term plans for short-term gain,” chief selector George Bailey said in February. With as many as 20 Tests on the slate from August 2026 to July 2027, resting the pace trio now looks the prudent call.
Vice-captain Mitchell Marsh and keeper-batter Josh Inglis could be spared the headache. Lucknow Super Giants are all but out of the IPL play-off race. Matt Short is in a similar position with sixth-placed Chennai Super Kings and might yet sneak a ticket to Pakistan.
Why does it matter?
Australia have not played fifty-over cricket since the home summer and Cummins, remarkably, has only two ODIs under his belt since lifting the World Cup in 2023. The Pakistan and Bangladesh trips were inserted to balance the Future Tours Programme but, in truth, they now serve as development windows.
“Young players will get chances – that’s the upside,” interim white-ball coach Andre Borovec told SEN Radio last week. “Conditions are tough over there, the balls get soft, the spinners come on early. That experience is gold.”
Names such as Aaron Hardie, Nathan Ellis, Spencer Johnson and leg-spinner Tanveer Sangha are already being whispered. A similar youth-heavy squad toured Pakistan for three T20s in January and, while results were mixed, the coaching staff came home impressed by the attitude.
The Travis Head question
Head is now a three-format opener and, like Cummins, has piled on overs and air miles. Bailey was frank earlier this year: “We don’t want to run Trav into the ground.” Rest after the IPL, followed by a short break before the Bangladesh Tests in August, is the most likely scenario.
What of Cameron Green? The all-rounder’s white-ball returns have been modest, yet he remains central to Australia’s Test XI. Batting in Pakistan and Bangladesh – low, slow, turning surfaces – could sharpen skills needed for the Test tour of India next year. If Kolkata Knight Riders miss the IPL play-offs, expect him on the plane.
Medical calls still to come
Cricket Australia’s sports-science team will decide how much bowling Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood require once their late-start IPL stints finish. By June they may prefer treadmills to fresh pitches. “Fast bowlers know their bodies best,” Hazlewood said recently. “If a spell needs to be skipped, so be it.”
Bangladesh straight after
The squad will leave Lahore on 5 June and head directly to Dhaka for three ODIs (starting 9 June) and three T20Is. Anyone rested for Pakistan could, in theory, rejoin in Bangladesh, although insiders suggest large-scale chopping and changing is unlikely.
Where it leaves the leadership
If Cummins stays in India, Marsh is favourite to captain. Inglis would take the gloves; Marnus Labuschagne should anchor the middle order. A skeletal side, yes, but one with enough international overs to remain competitive.
In short
Fixture congestion and a lucrative IPL window mean Australia will almost certainly send a depleted ODI squad to Pakistan. It is not ideal, yet the selectors see opportunity: blood new players now, keep the quicks fresh, and trust the depth chart. Balanced risk, calculated reward – the modern scheduling compromise.
