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Omitted Finch weighing up IPL options

Oliver Caffrey and Glenn MooreAAP
Australia's Aaron Finch has not been retained for the next Indian Premier League season. (Darren England/AAP PHOTOS)
Camera IconAustralia's Aaron Finch has not been retained for the next Indian Premier League season. (Darren England/AAP PHOTOS) Credit: AAP

Australia's T20 captain Aaron Finch is weighing up his Indian Premier League options after being let go by the Kolkata Knight Riders.

The franchise informed the explosive opener they were going in a different direction as they want extra salary cap space ahead of the IPL auction on December 23.

Finch, who has represented a record nine IPL franchises, went unsold in the 2022 auction but later replaced England's World Cup-winning opener Alex Hales.

The 35-year-old experienced a challenging 2022 campaign, scoring 86 runs across five matches and was then left off the Knight Riders' retained list.

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But Finch has until November 30 to decide if he wants to put himself in the auction to potentially be offered a lifeline for next year's IPL.

The Victorian opener has retired from ODIs but is yet to make a call on his international T20 career after Australia's exit from the World Cup.

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Factoring heavily into his decision will be his family after wife Amy gave birth to the couple's first child last year.

Finch will play in the Big Bash League for the Melbourne Renegades this summer without having to juggle international duties.

"There's not another international T20 until August, so there's quite a long break," Finch said earlier this month.

"Still plenty of time to be able to weigh all that up.

"It's been a pretty good ride regardless of what happens."

Test and ODI skipper Cummins confirmed on Tuesday he would not consider himself for IPL duties in 2023 as Australian cricket prepares for one of its busiest years on record.

"The international schedule is packed with Tests and ODIs for the next 12 months, so will take some rest ahead of an Ashes series and World Cup," Cummins posted on social media.

Other Australians omitted when the retained lists were revealed on Tuesday were Daniel Sams, Riley Meredith (both Mumbai Indians), Andrew Tye (Lucknow Super Giants) and Nathan Coulter-Nile (Rajastan Royals).

With Jason Behrendorff having been traded from Royal Challengers Bangalore to Mumbai, that left nine Australians lined up for the 2023 campaign.

There is considerable interest in whether Cameron Green will put himself forward for that.

How much demand he is in may depend on how many of England's T20 world champion allrounders are on the market with Ben Stokes and Sam Curran among the most notable unsigned stars.

Hales' match-winning 86 not out from 47 balls in the semi-final against India was not enough to secure a fresh deal at KKR while Jordan was left out by Chennai Super Kings despite coming into the England side as a death bowler in the semi and final.

The most expensive player axed was New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson, who had captained Sunrisers Hyderabad on a A$2.5m retention last season.

AUSTRALIANS CONFIRMED FOR IPL 2023:

Josh Hazlewood, Glenn Maxwell (both Royal Challengers Bangalore), David Warner, Mitch Marsh (both Delhi Capitals), Tim David, Jason Behrendorff (both Mumbai Indians), Matthew Wade (Gujurat Titans), Marcus Stoinis (Lucknow Super Giants), Nathan Ellis (Punjab Kings).

With PA

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