Start date fixed for IPL 2024
The buzz around the IPL 2024 auction is palpable, with less than 24 hours left for the mini-auction to begin. The teams must have finalised their plans and possible targets and will hope to get the required players to fill the slots. All ten franchises have several holes in their squads and need to find ideal ones to plug them.
As the auction approaches, the start date for the IPL 2024 has been announced. According to ESPNcricinfo, the 17th season of the Indian Premier League will commence on March 22 and will be panned out till the end of May. However, the final schedule will only be out once the dates for the general elections in 2024 are revealed by the Election Commission.
The BCCI organised the whole tournament in India in 2019 when the elections took place throughout the country and will hope to do so again. A lot will depend on the polling schedule since it’s the biggest election in the country. For now, the start date is only finalised.
The BCCI has also informed the ten franchises about the availability of overseas players for the next season. The teams consider the availability of foreign buys since they play an important role in shaping the team. It helps franchises to target players according to their needs.
Josh Hazlewood unavailable till the end of April
The Australian pacer, Josh Hazlewood, won’t be available to play till the end of April because he and his wife are expecting their first child during that time. However, the rest of the Australian players will be fully available. While the Sheffield Shield Final is slotted from March 21 to 25, Cricket Australia (CA) has granted permission to its players to choose the tournament they want to feature in.
Meanwhile, Rehan Ahmed won’t be available in the auction after being withdrawn from the list. Apart from him, other English players will be fully available “subject to fitness and international duty and any periods of unavailability that players submitted on their auction applications.”
The likes of Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana will be available for the whole season since they won’t be part of the Test series against Bangladesh. The other Sri Lankan players will only play after the end of the series, given they are sold in the auction and are part of the Test squad. Meanwhile, the BCB has granted permission to Mustafizur Rahman to play IPL 2024 from March 22 to May 11, but Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam won’t play the whole season.
For Ireland, Josh Little has been released to play a full season and won’t be part of the only Test against Bangladesh at the back end of March. The players from Afghanistan, New Zealand, South Africa, West Indies and Zimbabwe will be fully available. The IPL 2024 auction will take place tomorrow (December 19) from 1:00 PM IST.
Source: ESPNcricinfo
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