New Zealand players unlikely to feature in remainder of IPL 2021 – Reports

New Zealand players unlikely to feature in remainder of IPL 2021 – Reports

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson

After England’s Director of Cricket Ashley Giles stated that England players will not feature in the remainder of the rescheduled Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) if there are clashes with their international series commitments, New Zealand are also expected to follow suit. If September is chosen as the window to complete the tournament, the Black Caps won’t be available due to a series that they have scheduled against Pakistan in UAE.

IPL 2021 was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic breaching the bio-bubbles. As more than 5 positive cases among personnel in the bubble were reported, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had no choice but to stop the tournament and send players back home safely.

All New Zealand players with the exception of the Test contingent have reached home already. They went home in batches as the first batch reached on Saturday and the second on Sunday. The Test contingent is currently in the Maldives and will travel to the UK this week for the series against England and the subsequent all-important World Test Championship (WTC) final against India.

New Zealand players won’t be available in September

Trent Boult
Trent Boult

According to reports from Times Now News, New Zealand players will miss out on the remainder of IPL 2021 if it is scheduled in the September window. This could turn out to be the case because there is no other month where the Indian players are not occupied with international matches. Further, holding the tournament in September would serve as the perfect preparation for the ICC T20 World Cup.

With the Black Caps having a series against Pakistan in September, they won’t be able to make it however, meaning that the IPL could be without both English and New Zealand players. However, like with Ashley Giles who stated that the priority is international matches, the New Zealand board haven’t said anything and hence, there is a possibility that they could go with a weaker squad for the Pakistan series.

If they go with a full strength squad, the players that will miss out are Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Kane Williamson, Kolkata Knight Riders‘s Lockie Ferguson and Tim Seifert, Mumbai Indians’ Adam Milne and Jimmy Neesham, Royal Challengers Bangalore‘s Kyle Jamieson and Finn Allen and Chennai Super Kings’ Mitchell Santner.

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