Finch among Aussies released by IPL franchises

Aaron Finch is among the half-dozen Australians that were released by their Indian Premier League franchises as clubs published their retention lists ahead of the next auction.

Finch was omitted from the retained list by Kolkata Knight Riders, alongside Pat Cummins who had earlier this week announced he would forgo the IPLto focus on his commitments to Australia.

It is not clear whether the decision was made by Finch, the franchise, or was mutually agreed.

It had been reported that KKR was looking to cut Finch after a poor campaign in this year's edition in which Australia's T20 captain scored 86 runs in five matches.

But Indian site Sportstar this week quoted 'a source close to Finch' saying, "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."

Finch earlier this week was a confirmed entry in the Pakistan Super League draft for the 2023 season, the only Australian to go in as a 'Platinum' level pick (worth about A$250,000).

The Melbourne Renegades opener, who has represented a record nine IPL franchises, went unsold in the 2022 IPL auction but later replaced England's Alex Hales who withdrew citing 'bubble fatigue'.

Earlier on Tuesday, Aussie Test and ODI skipper Cummins posted on social media that he would prioritise Australia's Ashes and ODI World Cup campaigns and forgo his A$1.35m IPL contract with Kolkata.

Other Australians omitted when the retained lists were revealed overnight were Sean Abbott (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Daniel Sams, Riley Meredith (both Mumbai Indians), Andrew Tye (Lucknow Super Giants) and Nathan Coulter-Nile (Rajasthan Royals).

With Jason Behrendorff having been traded from Royal Challengers Bangalore to Mumbai that left nine Australians lined up for the 2023 campaign, plus any bought at auction on December 23.

There is considerable interest in whether Cameron Green will put himself forward for that.

How much demand he is in may depend on how many of England's T20 world champion allrounders are on the market with Ben Stokes and Sam Curran among the most notable unsigned stars.

Two T20 World Cup winners were surprisingly cut: Hales and Chris Jordan.

Hales' match-winning 86 not out from 47 balls in the semi-final against India was not enough to win him a fresh deal at KKR while Jordan was left out by Chennai Super Kings despite coming into the England side as a death bowler in the semi and final.

The most expensive player axed was New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson, who had captained Sunrisers Hyderabad on a A$2.5m retention last season.

Finch has been joined by Tye, Sams, Ben Cutting and Ryan Gibson in nominating for the PSL Draft, which is expected to take place later this week ahead of that tournament in February.

Australians in the IPL 2023

Josh Hazlewood, Glenn Maxwell (both Royal Challengers Bangalore), David Warner, Mitch Marsh (both Delhi Capitals), Tim David, Jason Behrendorff (both Mumbai Indians), Matthew Wade (Gujurat Titans), Marcus Stoinis (Lucknow Super Giants), Nathan Ellis (Punjab Kings).