Mitchell Johnson continued to make his country his priority by deciding against appearing in the IPL for the second consecutive year. When the inaugural season started in April last year, Johnson decided against taking part even though many of the the top-ranked Australians were very much in demand. Following a good year, Johnson was expected to earn a huge sum in next month's player auction.
However, his heavy recent workload - he is being rested for Australia's first ODIs this year - has forced Johnson to rethink. "We decided not to go last year because he wanted to consolidate his place in the Australian team," said Johnson's manager Sam Halvorsen. "You would have to say, looking back now, it worked effectively. With that same thing in mind we want to protect his long-term interests and I don't see that will be served by playing the IPL and he agrees.
"We see Mitchell playing for eight to 10 years and his interests won't be served by playing IPL this season." sports@thenational.ae
