From Pat Cummins to England’s teenage spin-sensation Rehan Ahmed, 5 players to skip IPL mini auction

The mini auction for the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League will take place on Friday in Kochi. However, some of the big names of the game will not be participating in the forthcoming T20 fiesta.

Presenting some of the ? Picks of the #TATAIPLAuction2023 ????

Which player’s bidding war are you looking forward to the most ? pic.twitter.com/aNMYq1QCzL

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) December 21, 2022

Ahead of the mega auction, many players have have withdrawn their names from the registration of IPL Auction citing various reasons.

Let’s look at the big players of the cricketing arena who won’t be seen in action in the T20 league:

Alex Hales

England’s Alex Hales is one of the most brutal hitters in the T20 format but the 2023 edition of IPL will miss his skills due to him pulling out due to international commitments. With 10534 runs registered under his name, Hales has played 374 matches in the shortest format of the game with a strike rate of 147.49.

In the 2022 Mega Auction, the England batter was bagged by the Kolkata Knight Riders, however, the franchise has now released him prior to the upcoming auctions as Hales withdrew from the tournament citing ‘bubble fatigue’. He was also said to have pulled out from the IPL auction due to workload issues.

We respect @patcummins30, @sambillings and @AlexHales1‘s decision of skipping next year’s IPL due to personal reasons and national team commitments. All the best, guys! ? #KnightRidersFamily #AmiKKR pic.twitter.com/AXh3YRphzr

— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) November 15, 2022

Pat Cummins

Australia captain Pat Cummins is one of the biggest names to miss the 2023 IPL season. The 29-year old is one of the best seamers of his team. Cummins, who was a pivotal element of the KKR franchise before the 2022 Mega Auction, was retained by the team for a whopping sum of INR 7.25 CR. He notched up a stunning innings in the 14th match against Mumbai Indians, smashing 56 runs off just 15 balls.

However, the Australian all-rounder has decided not to participate in the 16th edition of the IPL citing a tight schedule. Ashes and the 2023 ODI World Cup are also the reasons behind him pulling out of the league.

Cummins took to Twitter to announce the news.

I’ve made the difficult decision to miss next years IPL. The international schedule is packed with Tests and ODI’s for the next 12 months, so will take some rest ahead of an Ashes series and World Cup. pic.twitter.com/Iu0dF73zOW

— Pat Cummins (@patcummins30) November 14, 2022

Sam Billings

England wicketkeeper batter Sam Billings has also opted out of next year’s Indian Premier League to focus on the longer format of the game. Billings played eight games for Kolkata Knight Riders earlier this year, scoring 169 runs at an average of 24.14. He made his IPL debut in 2016.

“Have taken the tough decision that I won’t be taking part in the next IPL. Looking to focus on longer format cricket at the start of the English summer with @kentcricket,” Billings tweeted.

“Thank you so much for the opportunity @kkriders ! Loved every minute of it. An amazing franchise with some brilliant people. Hopefully see you again in the future,” he wrote.

Rehan Ahmed

According to the reports, England’s teenage spin-sensation Rehan Ahmed has also withdrawn his name from the IPL Auction for the 16th edition of the tournament.

The young player has pulled out of the league to focus on red-ball cricket. He had a base price of Rs 40 lakhs. Ahmed will be playing county cricket in England which is organised at the same time as IPL.

However, earlier in an interaction, Rehan had said that he will not be playing the two-Test series against New Zealand in February so as to participate in the IPL to gain experience of franchise cricket.

Chris Woakes

England all rounder Chris Woakes said that he had decided to pull out of the IPL in order to set himself up for a strong summer for England. He has represented Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals during his IPL career and played 21 matches.  “I had conversations with a lot of people and some with franchises as well, who sounded keen, which made it harder to pull out. But having not played any cricket in the English summer last year, it’s a good opportunity for me to set myself up for, hopefully, a really strong summer with England,” he was quoted as saying by ESPN Cricinfo.