Josh Hazlewood opts out of IPL

Australia and Mumbai Indians seamer Josh Hazlewood has pulled out of the IPL to keep himself fit and fresh for the West Indies tour and Ashes defence later this season.

Keeping in mind the lengthy IPL schedule, which clashes with the Australian players' resting time, and a tight international schedule ahead, Cricket Australia has opted to place him in cotton wool.

"Josh's workload has changed significantly since he first began attending the IPL," Pat Howard, general manager of Team Performance, said. "The IPL is the players' leave period and in Josh's case it was deemed that not playing was the best use of that time in the lead up to a busy winter. "This was agreed to with the IPL following discussions at the end of the Test series."

Australia begin their West Indies tour with a tour game in Antigua, starting May 27, three days after the IPL final. The teams face off in a two-Test series, which will be followed by the Ashes, beginning with the first Test in Cardiff on July 8.

Hazlewood, who claimed figures of 5 for 68 on Test debut against India in Brisbane, had been a vital cog for Australia this summer. He finished the Test series with 12 wickets in three matches at an average of 29.33 and backed it up with some impressive performances in the World Cup, most notably his 4 for 35 against Pakistan in the quarter-final in Adelaide, after replacing Pat Cummins.

He capped off the World Cup with seven wickets in five matches at a thrifty economy rate of 4.10. Hazlewood, who was not with Mumbai Indians during the IPL opener against Kolkata Knight Riders, was earlier retained by the side, and was expected to bring his excellent form to the tournament. He becomes the second Australian after Kane Richardson to opt out of the IPL but Mumbai have well-stocked pace bowling options in Lasith Malinga, Corey Anderson, Marchant de Lange, Jasprit Bumrah, Mitchell McClenaghan, Abhimanyu Mithun and Vinay Kumar.