Former India Pacer Siddharth Kaul Registers for BBL 2025-26 Draft

Former India pacer Siddharth Kaul has registered his name for the Big Bash League (BBL) 2025-26 draft. He is the only Indian male player who has registered for the BBL draft, which is set to take place on Thursday, June 19. The draft will feature more than 600 players across the world, along with the former England pacer James Anderson, who has also registered himself.

How did Siddharth Kaul become eligible for the BBL 2025–26 draft?

Kaul announced his retirement from international cricket on November 28, 2024. In his short international career, the right-arm pacer played three ODIs and as many T20Is. He picked up four wickets in the T20I format while remaining wicketless in the 50-over format. However, his domestic career is something that makes him stand out as an Indian pacer. In his 88 first-class matches, Kaul has picked 297 wickets, which speaks volumes of his talent.

Apart from him, there are 15 Indian female players who have also registered themselves for the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL). Interestingly, it was Unmukt Chand who was the first Indian to feature in the BBL, but it came after he became a citizen of the USA, as BCCI doesn’t allow active Indian players to participate in overseas leagues. Only retired players are allowed to take part, and that’s why Kaul became eligible to register himself in the BBL.

Kaul’s impressive domestic career, despite a short international career

Kaul was also a part of the Under-19 World Cup-winning Indian team in 2008, which was led by former India captain Virat Kohli. Kaul might not have had a great international career, but he was quite decent in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The right-handed pacer has featured in ten IPL seasons, playing 54 matches and picking up 58 wickets. His best IPL season came in 2018 while playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad, in which he picked 21 wickets.

He was last featured in the IPL during the 2023 season but didn’t get to play a single match. He played his last IPL match in 2022 for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) but couldn’t pick up a single wicket. During the 2024 auction, Kaul went unsold and has never featured in the richest cricket league since then. After he announced his retirement, he decided to return to his job as a State Bank of India employee, which he got in 2017, along with his cricket career.

However, it won’t be wrong to say that there is still a lot of cricket left in him. He is known for his economical bowling and toe-breaking yorkers in the death overs, which we have seen in many IPL seasons and a lot of domestic cricket matches as well. And now it seems like the 35-year-old pacer aims to try his luck in the BBL. But, it is worth noting that only 445 players will be shortlisted out of 600 registrants, and Kaul must be hoping to get a chance to show his bowling skills on Australian soil.