IPL Auction 2022: 3 reasons why Pat Cummins might not play next season

Pat Cummins was one of the most expensive IPL signings at the IPL 2020 Auction when the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) shelled out ₹15.50 crore for his services.

The Australian pacer only bagged 12 wickets in 14 matches in that IPL season. He also scored one half-century in the tournament and aggregated 146 runs in 14 matches.

Cummins missed the second leg of the IPL 2021 season after opting not to return during the pandemic and stayed back in his hometown for the birth of his first child.

Now Australia's Test captain Pat Cummins could be another big name when the IPL 2022 Auction comes around. However, after missing out on the second half of the season this year, the 28-year-old might not feature in the tournament next year either. Here are three reasons why:

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#1 Captaincy means that Cummins could focus more on Test cricket

Ahead of the Ashes, Pat Cummins was announced as Tim Paine's successor to become Australia's Test captain. The ace bowler bagged a fifer in the first innings on his captaincy debut and got his reign underway with a comprehensive victory against England.

Now that he is the national captain in the longest format of the game, Cummins might opt to focus more on Test cricket and give up playing the shortest format and franchise leagues around the world.

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#2 Workload management

Cricket Australia and the England and Wales Cricket Board have been quite vocal about managing the workload of their players since the pandemic struck.

With Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood being stalwarts in the Australian bowling line-up in all three formats, the team has seen plenty of rotation in bilateral series in recent times.

While Hazlewood was the only one of the three to play in the IPL last season, workload management might discourage Cummins from playing the full season if he decides to take part in IPL Auction 2022.

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#3 Mental fatigue in the IPL bio-bubble

With the new COVID-19 variant spreading at a rapid rate, there could be a lot of uncertainty about where and when the IPL might be played. Due to stringent bio-bubble restrictions in Australia, the players who featured in the first leg of the IPL 2021 season were forced to stay in an extended bubble in the Maldives before heading back home.

If IPL 2022 does go ahead with the bio-bubble restrictions in place, plenty of foreign players could be pulling out of the upcoming IPL season due to mental fatigue.