Certain South African players who are a part of the 2021 IPL tournament will be allowed to leave the Pakistan ODI series after the completion of the second ODI at Johannesburg on the 4th of April.
South Africa are to play three ODIs and four T20Is at home against Pakistan from April 2 to April 16, with the IPL beginning on April 9. Star players like Kagiso Rabada, Quinton de Kock, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje and David Miller are some of the big names joining their respective IPL teams after the second ODI.
According to a report in ESPNcricinfo, the IPL franchises involved are checking on whether pooling in for a chartered flight to bring players from South Africa is feasible.
In terms of an agreement between CSA and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), those players awarded Indian Premier League (IPL) contracts will be released early to join their respective teams,
the CSA statement said.
According to BCCI guidelines, team members do not need to serve the mandatory seven-day quarantine in their hotel rooms if they move between bio-secure team bubbles via chartered flights. If players take commercial flights, they will need to undergo mandatory quarantine before joining those already in the IPL bubble.
The decision to allow South African players to leave for the IPL midway through the series has not pleased former Pakistan players.
Former wicket-keeper batsman Rashid Latif said that Pakistan should not play the Proteas side as they will be weakened. He went on to say that both the boards had agreed upon playing their full-strength squads while planning the series.
South African fast bowler Dale Steyn too expressed displeasure at the decision of the CSA board and took to Twitter to ask why the “big dogs aren’t playing the T20s against Pak?”
Some of the other South African players playing in the IPL are Marco Jansen, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Chris Morris and Ab de Villiers (retired).
