Cricket South Africa (CSA) has stood firm in stance of not extending no-objection certificate to its players’ part of the World Test Championship final squad to continue in the Indian Premier League beyond the league stage phase. The Indian Express understands that despite the BCCI stepping in and holding informal talks, the CSA has made it clear that eight of their players who are named in the squad for the final against Australia starting on June 11 in London, will leave India once the league stage finishes as they are keen on giving them adequate .
The decision means eight of their players who are named in the squad will not stay back in India to feature in the play-offs. Instead, they will head back to South Africa before flying with the rest of their teammates on May 31 to England before featuring in the practice fixture against Zimbabwe starting on June 3.
Mumbai Indians who have a strong chase of making the play-offs will have to do without their opener Ryan Rickelton and Corbin Bosch. The left-handed batsman has been one of their finds of the season and is their second-highest run-getter with 336 runs in 12 innings
Similarly, Gujarat Titans won’t be able to use the services of Kagiso Rabada, who went home to serve one-month suspension for recreational drug use, for the play-offs. The Titans, apart from losing Rabada, will also not have the services of their batting talisman England’s Jos Buttler and the firepower of Sherfane Rutherford.
Among other teams in play-offs contention, Punjab Kings, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Delhi Capitals will also stand to suffer because the tournament runs into the first week of June. While Delhi are set to lose Tristan Stubbs, Bengaluru that is already sweating on the availability of Josh Hazlewood, will not have Lungi Ngidi. Punjab again rocked by the new schedule with Josh Inglis and Marcus Stoinis status unknown will see Marco Jansen head back in case they make their first play-off appearance since 2014.
Apart from them, Aiden Markram and Wiaan Mulder will also leave India on May 27. While Markram is part of Lucknow Super Giants, which has only a slim chance of qualifying for the knockouts, Mulder’s Sunrisers Hyderabad are already out of the tournament.
It is understood that soon after the revised schedule was out, and CSA naming their WTC final-bound squad, franchises realised that the chance of these players staying put for the play-offs was realistically impossible. That their coach Shukri Conard revealed that the deadline wasn’t going to be extended was a clear indication of CSA’s stance. Having made the final of the WTC for the first time, South Africa are looking to end their ICC title hoodoo in London against the defending champions.
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Buttler to head back too
Rajasthan Royals vs Gujarat Titans Playing 11: Rajasthan Royals will take on Gujarat Titans
IT isn’t just South African players, even Jos Buttler is set to leave for UK post the league stages as England have a white-ball series lined-up against West Indies on May 29. According to reports emerging from Sri Lanka, Gujarat Titans are set to sign Kushal Mendis as Buttler’s replacement. According to ESPNCricinfo Mendis, who was part of the Pakistan Super League till last week, has decided against travelling to Pakistan due to perceived security reasons and instead will head to Ahmedabad. The wicketkeeper batsman hasn’t featured in the IPL before and this would be his maiden affiliation with any franchise.
Confusion over Fizz
On Wednesday, Delhi Capitals announced Mustafizur Rahman as a replacement for their opener Jake Fraser-McGurk who has chosen not to travel back to the IPL after the events that unfolded in Dharamsala. However, reports emerging from Dhaka revealed that Mustafizur hasn’t been issued NOC by the Bangladesh Cricket Board as the seamer travelled with rest of his national teammates to the UAE for a T20I series. Bangladesh are lined-up to play two T20Is against UAE on May 17 and 19 before they travel to Pakistan to feature in matches starting on May 25 and ending on June 3. With Mustafizur’s international commitments overlapping with the IPL schedule, unless BCB issues NOC, then Delhi have to look for a new replacement.
This chaos is largely down to the revised schedule that the BCCI came up with after the IPL was suspended for a week because of the tensions in the border between India and Pakistan. With the international calendar already locked, franchises are miffed over the revised schedule which runs into the first week of June. When the BCCI was planning to resume the IPL, franchises were under the belief that there would be more double-headers to make up for the last time. It would have also meant that the play-offs and the final could be completed by May. But the BCCI opted for just two double-headers and chose to extend the IPL to the first week of June leading to these complications
