Pat Cummins and Travis Head to Quit Australia Cricket, Offered $10 Million to Play IPL: Reports

According to reports, an IPL team offered Pat Cummins and Travis Head $10 million to leave Australia and play for them in international T20 leagues. The Australian veterans rejected the offer, citing their dedication to the national team. The availability of top players for all T20 tournaments would be advantageous to IPL franchises, which have interests in the richest cricket leagues in the world, such as the Caribbean Premier League, Major League Cricket in America, South Africa's SAT20, and the International League T20, which is played in the United Arab Emirates.

However, the experienced duo refused the offer because they valued their country more than money. These two players are key parts of the Sunrisers Hyderabad team in the Indian Premier League. Apart from the IPL, the Sunrisers own The Hundred and the SA20, with the Northern SuperChargers and Sunrisers Eastern Cape, respectively. The Big Bash competition, Australia's premier T20 cricket tournament, is being considered for privatization to attract private investment that would increase player compensation.

How Much Money do Pat Cummins and Travis Head Make?

The top Australian players presently receive $1.5 million annually from their national contracts, while Pat Cummins's leadership duties cost him $3 million. Player pay would rise thanks to the BBL's funding, which would also connect the T20 league to an expanding worldwide network. Speaking of Cummins, SRH paid a hefty INR 18 crores to retain the Australian Test and ODI skipper for the 2025 IPL. SRH paid Rs 6.8 crore to acquire Head, a powerful top-order batsman, at the IPL 2024 auction. But because of his increasing stock, he was retained for Rs 14 crore for the 2025 season, more than doubling his compensation.

Heinrich Klaasen Retired to Focus on Cricket Leagues

T20 cricket is financially attractive, and it is difficult for players to pass up rich contracts. Heinrich Klaasen of South Africa has withdrawn from international cricket to focus on T20 events. In 2023, England's Jofra Archer and Jos Buttler were reportedly offered identical contracts to play franchise cricket throughout the year, but both declined. Klaasen recently discussed how cricket boards might force their players to prioritize international cricket. He made a good point when he remarked that players would seek possibilities in other richest cricket leagues in the world if they were not paid enough.
“If they don’t take care of the international players, they will go out and go to the leagues to make some extra cash. If you look at the Aussies and the England boys, they get looked after well, so they don’t need to go around the world and go play all these leagues," he said.

Meanwhile, Travis Head, his teammate from Sunrisers Hyderabad, had a word with him about the growth of T20 leagues. “I spent a lot of time with Klaasen over a period of time while he was making decisions. I don't think there's any written rule on what you should or shouldn't play or what you should or shouldn't give up. There's an idea of what people should think, and what they should do. Playing international cricket is the pinnacle. A lot of people hold it so highly in regard, but some people don't. People have got to respect that there's no one way to go about it,” Head said.