Finally, there is the other thing. The modern cricket calendar is crowded, contested. At any given point, a T20 league is being played somewhere. International commitments press in, bilateral series stack up, marquee tournaments demand priority. The result is visible in the absences at the start of this season, particularly among fast bowlers. Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis, Akash Deep, Sam Curran, Matheesha Pathirana among others will not start the season. This is the contradiction the IPL has not yet resolved: the league that bends schedules around itself but still has to negotiate with them. Which means there is now a familiar second wave of players disentangling themselves from Pakistan Super League contracts, and arriving to the IPL as replacement signings in the hope of catching that little break that can decisively alter their career’s direction.
