The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to host the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in India as it will be commencing on April 9 and the final will be played on May 30 across six venues namely Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata. Ahead of the highly-anticipated T20 Extravaganza, the IPL franchises have been hit by a massive blow as it is learned that the South African players will be missing the first few matches of the 14th edition of the tournament.
The Proteas cricketers who are likely to miss the opening matches of the cash-rich league include the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, and David Miller. All the aforementioned will be playing the three-match ODI series against Pakistan, starting from April 2 in SuperSport Park in Centurion.
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Though the ODI series will conclude on April 7, the players will be required to undergo a seven-day quarantine period in India before joining their respective teams for the practice and training sessions. The quarantine restrictions imposed by the BCCI will force the South African players to miss the action for the first few days of the league. However, if they are shifted directly from one bio-bubble to another they can be expected to avoid the hard quarantine for seven days.
A few days back, CSK CEO Kasi Vishwanathan had revealed that the Proteas pacer Lungi Ngidi will arrive in India on April 5 and therefore will be giving the CSK’s opening game against Delhi Capitals in April 10, a miss.
As per the quotes in InsideSports, Kasi Vishwanathan said, “Ngidi will join the team only after April 5. Ngidi will have to follow the same guidelines as others and will be put in quarantine once he arrives. Therefore he will not be available for selection for the opening game.”
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This also means that there are high chances of Mumbai Indians playing their inaugural match against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on April 9 where they will be missing their fiery opener, Quinton de Kock. However, the team who will be most affected by the absence of Proteas for the first few matches has to be Delhi Capitals.
Rabada and Nortje played a crucial role in the bowling attack of the Capitals as the fierce pace duo was one of the main reasons behind DC reaching the final of the league in IPL 2020.
