Chetan Sakariya and Mukesh Choudhary sign up for T20 Max series

Delhi Capitals pacer Chetan Sakariya and Chennai Super Kings seamer Mukesh Choudhary are all set to participate in Australia’s T20 Max series which commences on August 18. The two earned fame and recognition in the Indian Premier League. While Sakariya made his IPL debut for Rajasthan Royals before moving to the Capitals, Choudhary made his debut this year for CSK.

Sakariya will play for Sunshine Coast in the T20 league, whereas Choudhary will represent Wynnum-Manly. As part of an exchange initiative between the MRF Pace Foundation and Cricket Australia, the pair will participate in the competition as well as practice at the Bupa National Cricket Centre and collaborate with the Queensland Bulls setup during the preseason.

“Player and coaching exchanges between the MRF Pace Foundation and Cricket Australia have been in place for almost 20 years, with the two Indian players marking the resumption of the relationship that was paused due to COVID,” Cricket Australia said in a statement.

Queensland Cricket’s made the official announcement on their Twitter handle-

HUGE! Two IPL quicks have signed for KFC T20 Max! 🇮🇳@Sakariya55 from @DelhiCapitals has played 41 T20s, including an ODI and T20Is for India.

Mukesh Choudhary from @ChennaiIPL has played 25 T20s and claimed 32 scalps.

Details 👉https://t.co/VsEWnb6eCg#T20Max pic.twitter.com/Nu6Fis7HWH

— Queensland Cricket (@qldcricket) July 22, 2022

This is not the first time that Cricket Australia and MRF Pace Foundation have traded players. Over the course of more than 20 years, the two organizations have traded players. But the initiative was abandoned after 2019 due to the COVID-19 disease outbreak. When Dennis Lillie oversaw the MRF Pace Foundation in 1992, former Australian cricketers Glenn McGrath and Paul Wilson were among the first athletes to participate in the exchange program.

Both Chetan Sakariya and Choudhary are new to the setup

As for the two pacers, Sakariya has represented India internationally as he made his ODI and T20I debuts in Sri Lanka last year. On the other side, Choudhary has experience playing T20s for the Chennai Super Kings as well as first-class cricket for Maharashtra, though he is yet to make his India debut. The two were last seen during IPL 2022 representing their respective franchises.

The ability of players like Sakariya and Choudhary to handle the ball better would only be aided with the help of this series. They will need to alter their line and length to accommodate the velocity and bounce of the Australian conditions’ considerably different pitches.