Australia’s T20 captain Aaron Finch could miss IPL 2023

Australia men’s white-ball captain Aaron Finch is unsure if he will be part of IPL 2023. Finch, the 2021 T20 World Cup winning captain, oversaw his side’s Super 12s exit from a home T20 World Cup and is unlikely to be part of the 2024 edition in the Caribbean and the United States.

“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. It will be a discussion in the coming period,” a source close to the player told  Sportstar. Kolkata Knight Riders roped in Finch as replacement for Alex Hales, who pulled out of last IPL, citing “bubble fatigue”.

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Finch has represented nine IPL franchises so far, which is a record. He has been with the Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals), Pune Warriors India, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Mumbai Indians, Gujarat Lions, Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) and Royal Challengers Bangalore. He has played 92 matches in the IPL, scoring 2091 runs at an average of 25.19 and a strike rate of 128.20.

Having retired from ODIs in September, Finch will only return to international duty next August when Australia takes on South Africa in the T20s. Finch has 3120 T20I runs at 34.28 and a strike rate of 142.53, with a top score of 172.

IPL will have a two-and-a-half-month window starting next season. The IPL between 2014 and 2021 was played between eight teams and had 60 matches a season. In 2022, with two new teams entering the fold, the match count went up to 74.

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On Sunday, Kolkata Knight Riders acquired New Zealand fast bowler Lockie Ferguson and Afghanistan wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz from defending champion Gujarat Titans. Last Friday, Royal Challengers Bangalore traded Australia fast bowler Jason Behrendorff to Mumbai Indians.

In addition to the purse remaining from the previous auction and the value of the players they release; teams will have an additional Rs 5 crore to spend in the upcoming auction — to be held in Kochi on December 23 — taking the overall purse tally to Rs 95 crore.