Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc are ready to be plunged into the IPL fray again -- and will get an immediate taste of what their great mate Josh Hazlewood has already endured when they pit themselves against the league's wonder boy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
The 2026 bow of the other two Aussie maestro quicks, with firing-again Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Hazlewood already having been working his wonders for a couple of weeks, has been eagerly awaited now they've recovered from their heavy workloads and any lingering injury trials and tribulations.
But with the Indian season now in full swing, Starc, cleared by Cricket Australia and with no lingering shoulder and elbow issues, is due to arrive in Delhi on Friday and will have a week's build-up before playing what is earmarked as his seasonal debut against Rajasthan Royals on May 1.
Before then, though, Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Cummins, who's had a lumbar stress injury in his lower back and been out of action since the Adelaide Ashes Test in December, is pencilled in to play his first match, also against Rajasthan in Jaipur on Saturday.
That means both the greats will be pitted straight away against the monstrous and ever-blooming talent of 15-year-old Sooryavanshi, who hit the first four balls he faced from Hazlewood the other week in Jaipur for 4, 4, 4 and 6.
Meanwhile, a rare day in the IPL featuring no Aussie players ended on Thursday with Sanju Samson's second century this season helping earn Chennai Super Kings a 103-run win over Mumbai Indians at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium.
Samson followed his unbeaten century against Delhi Capitals with 101no off 54 balls, reaching his landmark off with his 10th boundary off the final ball of the innings, to anchor Chennai's 6-207 after they'd been put in to bat in the league's marquee fixture.
Trinidadian finger spinner Akeal Hosein (4-17) then dynamited Mumbai's chase inside the power play with two wickets in his first two overs, while fast bowler Mukesh Choudhary bowled Quinton de Kock for seven as the home side got bowled out for just 104 in 19 overs.
It was Mumbai's worst-ever defeat in the IPL and the first time they've lost three-straight games at Wankhede in one season.
