Top IPL-bound South African cricketers’ “unanimous” call to skip the forthcoming Bangladesh Test series for IPL 2022 has retriggered debates on national commitment within the Proteas set-up. But Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) chief executive Pholetsi Moseki has defended Kagiso Rabada & company, stating it doesn’t make them any “less patriotic”. Moseki defended the players amidst […]
Top IPL-bound South African cricketers’ “unanimous” call to skip the forthcoming Bangladesh Test series for IPL 2022 has retriggered debates on national commitment within the Proteas set-up. But Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) chief executive Pholetsi Moseki has defended Kagiso Rabada & company, stating it doesn’t make them any “less patriotic”.
Moseki defended the players amidst question marks on their priorities after several top South African stars decided to skip the two World Test Championship (WTC) matches that overlap with the initial two weeks of the IPL 2022. While the Bangladesh Tests kick off on March 31 and conclude on April 12, the IPL 2022 begins on March 26 in Mumbai.
Bind by an agreement with the BCCI to provide NOCs to players during IPL, CSA left the onus on players to decide whether they wish to adhere to the last international assignment of the home summer or not. A call that Test match skipper Dean Elgar announced would be a litmus test of priority for the players.
But despite efforts from Elgar & co to avail their services for the two Tests, IPL-bound players have decided to join their respective franchises immediately after the end of the ODI series versus Bangladesh on March 23, presumably via a chartered flight to enable bubble-to-bubble transfer.
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The IPL 2022 will have top South African players available from the start.
The CSA regime seems to have taken a pragmatic stance on the matter, recognising that the money earned from the IPL helps players sustain their livelihoods and maximise their stay at the top-level game. At a time when several cricketers are retiring early to prolong their careers in T20 leagues, CSA, like several other cricketing bodies, have had to be mindful of not pushing things too much with their players.
“The amount of money players make from IPL is good for their life after cricket – they are taking International cricket seriously so even if they go for IPL, that doesn’t mean they are less patriotic,” CSA’s CEO was quoted as saying on Cricbuzz.
Top cream of players joining their respective IPL franchises immediately after the Bangladesh ODIs means South Africa are set to field an understrength playing XI, especially the bowling attack, for those two Test matches.
In a phase where the new cycle of the WTC 2021-23 is nicely poised, the absence of Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Marco Jansen and Lungi Ngidi is expected to give Bangladesh more of a window to compete in the series. The Asian rivals pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Test history at the start of this year when they defeated New Zealand in Mount Maunganui.
