Australia captain Pat Cummins reaffirmed that playing Test cricket for his country is his No. 1 priority, adding that he is yet to decide his future in the next season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Cummins led Sunrisers Hyderabad to the final of the IPL 2024 after being bought by the franchise for Rs 20.50 crore, making him the second-most expensive player in the history of the tournament. Ahead of the IPL 2025 season, the mega auction is set to take place later this year with each team can retain a total of six players (a maximum of five capped players including Indian and overseas and a maximum of two uncapped players) from their existing squad either via retention or by using the Right to Match (RTM) option.

With the important five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy to be played next month, Cummins is focused on playing for the country. However, the pacer is aware of the new IPL rules for overseas players that make them “ineligible to register in the following year’s player auction” if they don’t register for that season’s player auction while the other rule bans players for two seasons if the player makes himself unavailable before the start of the season after getting picked at the auction.

“I’ll work out in the next little bit what this season looks like. There’s a bit of a tweak in the rules, but I don’t know whether that would have affected me in the past, I’ve never pulled out after the auction. But it is one more factor to consider with the IPL,” Cummins told The Sydney Morning Herald.

“Test cricket is the absolute No.1 priority, world cups are right up there, and then I think you use them as your tent poles and work out what else makes sense around that.

“The calendar is never going to get any less busy, and I’m not going to get any younger, so these things have always been considerations, and moving forward will become even more so. But needless to say, playing cricket for Australia, particularly Test matches, is my number one job and priority,” he added.

Cummins expect the upcoming home series against India will be another close-fought encounter after the visitors won the last two series in Australia.

“The couple of home series I’ve played against India there’s always an element of attrition to them. The last series came down to the last session at the Gabba on the last day of the last Test match,” he said.

“That’s a good thing to keep in mind; it is a long series, and it might be tightly held until the last game, so you’ve got to manage your resources throughout,” the Australia captain added.

The absence of the Paris Olympic medallists notwithstanding, hosts India will not be short on firepower when they compete in the season-ending World Cup Final, starting from Tuesday, with Rhythm Sangwan headlining a 23-member squad. The Paris Olympics medallists automatically qualify for the tournament, but Manu Bhaker, Sarabjot Singh and Swapnil Kusale, who won the bronze, have opted to skip the event to be staged at the Dr. Karni Singh Range.

Besides Rhythm, rising stars such as Ganemat Sekhon (women’s skeet) and Sonam Maskar (women’s 10m air rifle) will look to excel in the tournament, having earned their spots based on world rankings.

The Indian squad features nine athletes from the 2024 Paris Olympics, including Arjun Babuta (men’s 10m air rifle), Anish Bhanwala (men’s 25m rapid fire pistol.

Rhythm will compete in both the women’s 10m air pistol and 25m pistol events.

The other Olympians in the squad include Mairaj Ahmad Khan (men’s skeet), Divyansh Singh Panwar (men’s 10m air rifle), and Chain Singh (men’s 50m rifle 3 positions).

Also ready to shoot in the World Cup Final are Arjun Singh Cheema (men’s 10m air pistol), Vijayveer Sidhu (men’s 25m rapid fire pistol), Anantjeet Singh Narukha (men’s skeet), Maheshwari Chauhan (women’s skeet), Rajeshwari Kumari (women’s trap) and Shreyasi Singh (women’s trap). All these shooters competed in the Paris Games.

There are four finals lined up on each of the three competition days in this traditional ISSF season-ending showdown between the best in the world. Due to host country norms, a minimum of two Indian shooters will be in action in each of the 12 individual Olympic events on the roster.

Action begins on Tuesday with the 10m air rifle women being the first final on the schedule, followed by the men’s final. The 10m air pistol men and women’s finals are also lined up on day one. All the finals will be preceded by qualification rounds.

131 of the world’s top shooters from 37 countries including multiple reigning Olympic champions participate in the competition which will determine the year’s best performers in each of the 12 individual Olympic events.

The world’s top six athletes of the combined six ISSF World Cup stages held throughout year, along with Paris Olympic medallists, defending ISSF World Cup Final champions and reigning world champions have achieved direct qualification in each of the 12 events.

Three events — men’s 10m air pistol, men’s trap and women’s 25m pistol — will see all three Paris Olympic medallists compete for the top prize of 5000 euros.

All reigning champions from the previous year in Doha will also be there to defend their titles.

President of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF), Luciano Rossi, who is in the capital to attend the tournament, hailed India’s role in the growth of the sport.

“We’re excited to be in India for the ISSF World Cup Final, one of the most dedicated shooting sport nations in the world,” said Rossi.

“After a successful season for our athletes and a wonderful Olympic Games in Paris, this is the perfect opportunity for all to finish the season on a high,” he added.

National Rifle Association of India’s (NRAI) secretary general K Sultan Singh said, “Shooting sport has been witnessing huge rise in popularity and passion amongst the youth, women and specially abled athletes in the country which can be gauged by the laurels which has been achieved at the Olympics, Paralympics and continental championships. ” “We wish all the participants the very best and immensely thank the ISSF and the government of India for all their support in hosting and organising the ISSF World Cup Final in New Delhi.”

Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam was dropped on Sunday, while the pace duo Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah opted to withdraw from the remaining two Tests against England. This is the first time that Babar has been “rested” from the red-ball side in his 54-Test career. “Taking into consideration the current form and fitness of key players and looking ahead to Pakistan’s future assignments in the 2024-25 international cricket season, the selectors have decided to give rest to Babar Azam, Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Shaheen Shah Afridi. “Abrar Ahmed (who is recovering from dengue fever) was unavailable for selection,” a Pakistan Cricket Board statement read.

However, it is learnt that Shaheen and Naseem withdrew themselves from the series on Sunday morning, citing niggles.

“Both of them told the selectors they should be withdrawn from the two Tests,” a PCB source told PTI.

“Perhaps these two had come to know they were going to be dropped so decided to withdraw themselves to save themselves from embarrassment,” the source added.

Babar has struggled with poor form since early 2023, particularly in Test matches, where he has yet to score a half-century in his last 18 innings.

Since the start of 2023, he has averaged just under 21 in nine Test matches, while Shaheen has also faced difficulties with form, being rested or dropped for the second Test against Bangladesh last month and for the final Test in Sydney in January.

The source also revealed that captain Shan Masood, head coach Jason Gillespie, and two PCB mentors were against dropping Babar from the Test squad.

However, the new selectors, including Aaqib Javed and Aleem Dar, insisted it was time for Babar to be sidelined due to his poor form and lack of confidence.

It is also learnt that the captain and coach were not part of a meeting held by the PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi with the selectors and five mentors — Misbah ul Haq, Shoaib Malik, Waqar Younis, Saqlain Mushtaq and Sarfaraz Ahmed — to discuss the selection of the Test squad on Saturday in Multan.

Spinner Abrar Ahmed has been sidelined as he is yet to recover from a bout of dengue fever while the revamped national selection committee has also released wicketkeeper batsman Sarfaraz Ahmed from the Test squad.

The uncapped duo of Haseebullah and Mehran Mumtaz, Kamran Ghulam, fast bowler Mohammad Ali and off-spinner Sajid Khan in the Test squad have been added in place of the four senior players.

Spinners Noman Ali and Zahid Mehmood, who were initially part of the original first Test squad but were subsequently released, have also been included in the 16-player squad.

Pakistan Squad (for 2nd and 3rd Tests): Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Haseebullah (wicket-keeper), Kamran Ghulam, Mehran Mumtaz, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha and Zahid Mehmood.