The 19th edition of the Indian Premier League is scheduled to start from March 28, with defending champions taking on Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
The News
However, the former champions Sunrisers Hyderabad have suffered a major blow before the start of the league, with Australian fast bowling all-rounder Jack Edwards getting ruled out of the entire season.
The Injury
Edwards has suffered a foot injury, which has resulted in him joining the long list of Australian players who have been ruled out of the team league due to injuries and workload management.
The Names
Other than Edwards, Australian and SRH captain Pat Cummins will miss the initial few matches, and the team will be led by Ishan Kishan in his absence. Along with Cummins, the experienced fast bowling duo of Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc will also miss the first few games for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru and the Delhi Capitals, respectively.
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The Reason
Josh Hazlewood has not yet fully recovered from the injury that the fast bowler picked up before the start of the Ashes, which was his second injury in quick succession after recovering from the hamstring injury that he suffered in the 2024 Border Gavaskar Trophy, which made him miss the major part of the series.
As far as Mitchell Starc is concerned, the left-arm pacer played all five Tests of the Ashes series, and Cricket Australia wants him to be fit and available for the packed international schedule after the IPL, which is the reason why he is expected to miss the initial few matches in the upcoming season.
The Performance
Coming back to Jack Edwards, the all-rounder had a good outing in the Big Bash League last year by picking up 19 wickets in 13 games while playing for the Sydney Sixers, along with scoring 133 runs coming late in the batting order, and his absence will be a huge loss for Sunrisers Hyderabad, who already have an inexperienced bowling lineup at their disposal.
Also Read: Starc and Hazlewood Likely to miss Initial Part of IPL 2026