Siddle nominates for maiden IPL stint

Peter Siddle, the former Australia Test quick who has not played a limited-overs international since 2010, has thrown his name into this month's player auction for the lucrative 2018 Indian Premier League tournament.

Siddle is one of 1,122 players – including 59 from Australia – who will go under the hammer on January 27 and 28 when the annual player auction is held in Bengaluru.

While the headline acts will be current international stars the likes of England captain Joe Root and Ashes-winning Australians Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, Siddle will again put himself in contention even though he has previously failed to attract interest from Indian franchises.

Largely a result of his status in Australia cricket as a 'red ball specialist' who played just 17 ODIs and a pair of T20 internationals (all of them in 2009-10) and who was characterised as lacking the requisite number of 'change-up' deliveries in his bowling repertoire.

However, the 33-year-old has undergone something of a reinvention since being recruited by the Adelaide Strikers for the current iteration of the KFC Big Bash League and believes the experience he's gained might enhance his chances of an IPL call-up.

"Yeah, I've put it in there," Siddle confirmed today when asked if he had submitted his name for the IPL auction.

"I'm a lot older now so I might as well put it in there to see how I go.

"I've always put it in there to see how I've gone but you never know, do you?

"I just want to play cricket, whether it's in the IPL or it's in England playing county cricket, I'll do whatever."

Siddle is not the only former Australia Test representative to have put his name forward for the IPL that will run from early April until mid-May.

His fellow ex-quick Mitchell Johnson and all-rounder Shane Watson were also named along with international veterans Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Lasith Malinga when details of the upcoming auction were unveiled yesterday.

But while Siddle had not played in the BBL for almost three years prior to his first appearance for the Strikers last month, he claims his white-ball bowling has developed through his contact with experienced T20 bowlers such as Adelaide's Ben Laughlin, the all-time leading wicket-taker in Australia's domestic T20 competition.

And indirectly through working alongside Afghanistan's star leg-spinner Rashid Khan who is expected to draw huge interest from a number of Indian franchises when the auction gets underway in a fortnight.

"It's definitely helped," said Siddle, whose BBL|07 economy rate of 5.79 is the fourth-best mark among bowlers (minimum of 20 overs bowled).

"I haven't played a lot in the last few years, especially the Big Bash so it's been good to learn.

"We've got Benny Laughlin in the side and he's very experienced, especially in the T20 format.

"So I've been working alongside him and trying out a few new tricks and deliveries and that's helped.

"So we'll see how we go."