Josh Hazlewood puts Australia first by withdrawing from IPL

Braced for a second season with Chennai Super Kings, the 30-year-old has opted to rest up ahead of the T20 World Cup and the Ashes

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Josh Hazlewood has pulled out of playing for Chennai Super Kings in the upcoming Indian Premier League ahead of a busy international calendar with Australia.

The 30-year-old took just a single wicket in three outings for CSK last term. He follows Josh Philippe and Mitchell Marsh in withdrawing from the competition. A replacement will be confirmed in due course.

Hazlewood has been in and out of bio-secure bubbles since the middle of last year - he would have had seven days of quarantine upon arriving in India - and wants a period of rest before a hectic second half of the year.

Australia are due in the West Indies for a white-ball tour in June and July and then face Sri Lanka as a warm-up for the T20 World Cup in India. A tour of Bangladesh may also be pencilled in.

The end of the year then sees England head down under for the five-Test Ashes series - and the seamer wants to be ready for the gruelling schedule.

"It's been a long 10 months in bubbles and quarantine at different times, so I decided to have a rest from cricket and spend some time at home and in Australia in the next two months," Hazlewood told cricket.com.au.

"We've got a big winter ahead too. The West Indies is going to be a long tour, with Bangladesh potentially thrown on the end of that.

"Then potentially the T20 World Cup leading into the Ashes, so it's a big 12 months, as it always is with Australia, and I want to give myself the best chance to be mentally and physically ready for that. 

"That's the decision I've made, and it sits pretty well with me."

CSK's loss is New South Wales Blues' gain, with Hazlewood having committed to playing in the Sheffield Shield final later this month should they make it.

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