File photo of Pat Cummins.
With the IPL 2021 resumption slated in the UAE from September, BCCI was handed another blow as star Australian pacer has decided not to play in the remaining of Kolkata Knight Riders' matches, reported Australian daily Sydney Morning Herald.
"David Warner and Pat Cummins could be rested from the West Indies tour because of family reasons - others could follow after a draining year in several bubbles - and Cummins, despite a multimillion-dollar IPL contract, has already said he will not return to the T20 tournament this season," stated the report.
The news comes after England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) official Ashley Giles said that English players may not play in the tournament later this year due to a tight international calendar.
The suspended 14th edition of the IPL is likely to be played in UAE in the September 15 to October 15 window with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) looking at a 25-day window for the cash-rich league.
"We are going to have to give some of these guys a break at some point. But the intention of giving guys a break for, say, Bangladesh, wouldn't be for them to go and play cricket elsewhere," ESPNcricinfo quoted Giles as saying. "We have to manage our schedule now, so we get our guys arriving in the best shape possible for the T20 World Cup and the Ashes," he added.
