IPL 2022: Full List of Players unavailable for first couple of weeks

The IPL 2022 could face a major hit in its initial few weeks as the busy international calendar threatens to ensure the likes of David Warner, Kagiso Rabada, Pat Cummins among other prominent stars could be unavailable. Prominent Australian names such as Cummins, Warner, Steve Smith, Josh Hazlewood among others are currently involved in the […]

Prominent Australian names such as Cummins, Warner, Steve Smith, Josh Hazlewood among others are currently involved in the all-format trip to Pakistan, which concludes on April 5.

While Smith went unsold at the IPL 2022 auction, Cummins was repurchased by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Warner found a new home with Delhi Capitals (DC).

The two cricketers are rested for the limited-overs leg of the Pakistan tour but will not be immediately available to take part in the IPL 2022.

The scenario would be similar for Rabada, as well as fellow South African speedsters Anrich Nortje and Marco Jansen, who are expected to be involved with the home series of 2 Tests and 3 ODIs against Bangladesh in late March and early April.

The Test series, which will be played after the completion of the three ICC Super League fixtures, ends on April 11 and is going to overlap with the initial two weeks of the IPL 2022.

Also Read – Full List Of Players For IPL 2022 Auction Released: Shreyas Iyer, R Ashwin In Marquee Set

David Warner could be one of the big players missing the start of IPL 2022.

IPL 2022 could be missing prominent stars for major chunk of first half

According to a report in the ESPNcricinfo, the IPL governing council on Wednesday (February 9) sent an e-mail to all 10 of the franchises, communicating to them that Cricket Australia (CA) will only allow the Australian players, picked for the Pakistan tour, to reach India after April 6.

“In an email to the franchises on Wednesday, the IPL said Cricket Australia had permitted players who were part of both the Test and white-ball leg in Pakistan, to travel from April 6,” the report stated. “CA had also told IPL that all Australian players – contracted or not – whose state teams feature in the Sheffield Shield final starting from March 31 would be free to travel only from April 5.”

This is a follow up to the remarks made by Australia’s chairman of selectors George Bailey, who said while they certainly identify IPL as a great “development opportunity” to their players, they wouldn’t release their players for the IPL when Australia are taking the field.

“We do see the IPL as a really good development opportunity when it fits, but there’s obviously a huge amount of cricket with a series (in Sri Lanka) planned for immediately-post the IPL as well,” Bailey was quoted as saying in a media briefing by ESPNcricinfo.

“So it will be about working with the individuals to ensure they’re getting the preparation they need, but we certainly won’t be releasing players to the IPL while Australia are playing.”

Even if the April 5 deadline was not in place, Glenn Maxwell was set to miss the initial games for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) after he opted out of the same due to his wedding.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) had earlier indicated that they won’t be compromising on the national team’s strength for the IPL 2022, considering the Bangladesh series has its ODI leg included in the ICC Super League and the Test leg part of the World Test Championship.

But in a more lenient stance, the board seems to have conveyed to the IPL-bound players to pick and choose between Tests against Bangladesh and the IPL 2022. Test captain Dean Elgar said recently, he would make an effort to convince his players to stay back for national duty. It remains to be seen how those discussions unfold. But if players move to India for the IPL, South Africa will lose their entire first-choice pace attack for Bangladesh Tests.

The trio of Cummins, Warner and Rabada is the most relevant here, given they were part of the marquee list of players that franchise most sought out at the IPL 2022 mega auction, which was held in Bangalore on February 12 & 13.