Langer hoping for IPL stint to bear fruit for Australia at T20 World Cup

Australia coach Justin Langer has said that the Indian Premier League (IPL) experience will help his players to come up with better performances at the upcoming T20 World Cup next year.

Last week, Australian players got the biggest attention from eight IPL franchises. Pacer Pat Cummins had become the most expensive foreign player in the history of the tournament as he was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for a whopping INR 15.5 crore.

Few other Australians like Josh Hazelwood, Glenn Maxwell, Chris Lynn were also bought by IPL franchises.

Maxwell was bought by Kings XI Punjab for an amount of INR 10.75 crore.

"In this cycle it is hopefully going to be really valuable to us with two T20 World Cups coming up, we have talked a lot about emphasis we are putting on T20 cricket. Ultimately it's their decision as well, they play 12 months of the year now, you have to look at short term and long term, you certainly can't begrudge anyone being in the IPL," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Langer as saying.

"But from a purely big-picture point of view from us, the fact they are going to play 10-14 T20 games, where we will play in two years, and with the World Cup next season that can only help their skills. Hopefully it's a win-win for everyone," he added.

Australia will next take on New Zealand in the Boxing Day Test, and it is slated to be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) from December 26-30.

The hosts had defeated Kiwis in the first match of the series to move to the second spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) standings.