Cricket Australia (CA) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have officially confirmed the availability of their players for the second half of IPL 2021. Both boards informed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday that they have no objection to sending their players to the opulent competition.
Now, it’s up to the individual players whether to take part or not. This won’t be much of an issue either. Australian players like Glenn Maxwell and David Warner opted out of international tours to be available for IPL 2021 while the ECB shifted its international tour of Bangladesh to make space for the tournament.
Cricket Australia And England And Wales Cricket Board Officially Confirmed Availability Of Cricketers For IPL 2021 2nd Leg At UAE
Kasi Viswanathan, the CEO of Chennai Super Kings, confirmed receiving communication from the BCCI to Cricbuzz. Cricket Australia issued no-objection certificates to Australian players, allowing them to participate in the Indian Premier League when the tournament resumes in the UAE from September 19.
He said: “We have got a call from the IPL office and have been informed that the boards have no objection to their players’ participation. It is now up to the players. Our Australian and English players (Jason Behrendorff, Sam Curran, Moeen Ali) are available.”
MS Dhoni-led CSK reached Dubai for IPL 2021 on Friday, becoming the second team after defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) to do so.
Although not many official hurdles remain now for the players’ participation in IPL 2021, there’s still some internal debate going on in the public, especially about the workload issues ahead of the T20 World Cup. Arch-rivals CSK and MI will kick off the tournament on September 19, which will go on till October 15.
England’s three-ODI and three-T20I tour of Bangladesh, scheduled for September and October, has been moved to March 2023. It opens up the opportunity for England’s limited-overs cricketers like Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, and Sam Curran to play the Indian Premier League.
Ricky Ponting: IPL 2021 Undoubtedly Best Preparation For The T20I World Cup
Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting, head coach of Delhi Capitals, however, dismissed these concerns on Friday, saying IPL 2021 would be the “best preparation” for the players.
“Those guys that haven’t played for three or four months now, they need to get back into the groove of playing high-quality cricket against the best players in the world. No doubt it’s their best preparation (for the T20 World Cup) to be in those exact conditions, playing in probably the strongest domestic T20 tournament in the world.
“All the best players in the world will be there … and I’m not just saying it because I want some of the Australian players there at the Delhi Capitals,” Ponting was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.
Elsewhere, David Warner of Australia has confirmed availability for Sunrisers Hyderabad which also has the services of Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow (both England). Australians Steve Smith and Marcus Stoinis have already informed their franchise Delhi Capitals that they would be showing up for the tournament. There are 14 English and 20 Australians in different franchises for IPL 2021.
Cricket Australia (CA) on Sunday cleared the way for its players to take part in the remainder of the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) in the UAE in September and October. Cricket Australia’s clearance came after the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) announced the postponement of a three-match ODI series between the two nations that was originally planned to be held in India ahead of the T20 World Cup