Australian players have a mixed bag of performances this IPL with some impressing and some struggling this year.
Australian players are going through something of a mixed bag this IPL. The major three quicks’ performances for the remainder of the competition will be closely watched, especially in light of the impending World Test Championship final.
Travis Head
Head, who began the competition with 67 off 31 balls as SRH amassed a huge 286 for 6 against Rajasthan Royals, has shown moments of genius. More recently, he and Abhishek Sharma created another memorable IPL moment when they each smashed 66 off 37 deliveries in a thrilling stand of 171, with SRH chasing 247 with plenty of room to spare.
Mitch Marsh
“I’ve never been more motivated to score runs,” he said wryly about the ability to put his feet up. Marsh, who missed the latter part of the Australia season due to injury after his Test omission, has made a remarkable comeback to action. He hammered four half-centuries in his first six innings before missing a game because of a family illness. Marsh is still Australia’s T20 captain and has a big year ahead of him with the World Cup in India and Sri Lanka in February.
Pat Cummins
Australian Test and ODI skipper hasn’t had a great IPL so far, and his club is lingering close to the bottom of the table. After missing the Champions Trophy, Cummins hadn’t played since the conclusion of the India Test series in January. Although he recently recorded his best performance of 3 for 26 against the Mumbai Indians, wickets have generally come at a cost. According to Australia, Cummins would have more time to get ready for the WTC final if SRH were to miss the playoffs.
Mitchell Starc
With eight wickets in his opening two games of the season, including a career-best T20 return of 5 for 35 against SRH, which featured once more dismissing Head, Starc got off to a great start. He has only claimed two wickets in five games since, but he was instrumental in DC’s Super Over triumph over the Royals, securing the match over 20 overs with brilliant reverse-swinging yorkers and limiting the Super Over to 11.
Josh Hazlewood
Having not played since mid-December prior to the start of the IPL, Hazlewood is getting along great, which has been fantastic news for both him and RCB, who are vying for the top spot in the standings. He improved that performance with 3 for 14 against Punjab Kings, albeit in a loss, after his 3 for 21 against Chennai Super Kings was out of the top drawer. The WTC final is starting to resemble another Hazlewood vs. Scott Boland discussion.
Glenn Maxwell
Maxwell, who was benched for PBKS’ most recent game against RCB after hardly making an impression in the first half of the competition, is having yet another dismal IPL with the bat. That comes after 52 runs at 5.77 from the previous season. Despite his ability to compete with the ball, he was unable to maintain his position.
Tim David
David’s role is succinctly summarised by his figures. With an incredible strike rate of 194.52, he faced only 73 balls over five innings and was removed just once. To keep the conversation going, he has only batted five times in 249 T20 innings, but two of his innings have come from No. 8. With 50 off 26 balls, he single-handedly propelled RCB to a total that gave them a chance against PBKS.
Jake Fraser- McGurk
Fraser-McGurk has also had a difficult tournament; the Australian hasn’t been able to duplicate his success from the previous season. He scored five single-figure scores overall, but he scored 38 of them in one inning versus SRH. For DC’s most recent game, he was left out of the starting lineup. After a BBL when he only made a strong final appearance with 95 off 46 balls against the Brisbane Heat, he struggled in the IPL.