Ahead of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 mega auction, all 10 franchises have been dealt a major blow as Australian players, who make the largest contingent among overseas players (47) will be expected to miss certain parts of the IPL.
With two new teams slated to join the cash-rich league, IPL will now become a 74-match affair, with the tournament running for a period of two months, Cricket Australia (CA) made it clear that they will not allow Australian players to skip national duty.
Australia are scheduled to tour Pakistan in March and April for 3 Tests, 3 ODIs and a one-off T20I. Australian selectors have named a full-strength squad for the tour and the decision comes as a body blow for IPL franchises.
Teams such as Punjab Kings (PBKS), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) would have been hoping to pick up skippers in the upcoming 2022 mega auction, and two of the most in-demand players David Warner and Pat Cummins – both of whom have also been included as marquee players by the BCCI – would miss games due to the Test series versus Pakistan.
Warner and Cummins could also miss further IPL matches due to the ODI games that follow the Test series. With players required to quarantine for a minimum of 6 days, it would be difficult for Australian players to feature in the first half of IPL.
Franchises would hence have to be wary of buying Australian players as such, with the likes of Steve Smith, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Marsh, Aaron Finch, Adam Zampa, all will be expected to miss certain games due to the Pakistan tour.
Australia’s chairman of selectors George Bailey on Tuesday all but confirmed the bad news for IPL teams.
He said, “We do see the IPL as a really good development opportunity when it fits, We do see the IPL as a really good development opportunity when it fits.”
The latest developments hence would make the upcoming IPL auctions a lot more interesting, with the Australian contingent’s unavailability.
