Veteran South Africa leg-spinner Imran Tahir is all set to be the only Proteas player to participate in the 2020 edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) starting on August 18.
The CPL 2020 will be the first cricket tournament in the Island country since the COVID-19 enforced break in March. The marquee multi-team tournament will see a total of 33 games with all the CPL 2020 matches to be played across two stadiums in Trinidad & Tobago.
According to a report published in ESPNCricinfo, Tahir will be the only South African player to participate in the CPL 2020 while other likes of Rassie van der Dussen, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rilee Rossouw, and Colin Ingram would not take part in the tournament due to the travel restrictions.
The CPL organizers have reportedly asked all the participating foreign players to arrive in Trinidad & Tobago by August 1 in order to complete a mandatory 14-day quarantine period before participating in the T20 franchise tournament from August 18.
Well, Tahir had already confirmed his participation in the CPL 2020 since he was not in South Africa, and has also left for the Trinidad & Tobago directly from Pakistan where he was playing in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2020 but couldn’t travel back to home since March due to the Coronavirus- enforced restrictions on the international flights there, but others couldn't do on time.
South Africa has seen a surge in COVID-19 cases, which forced the government to extend the lockdown with all international borders remains closed, but the Cricket South Africa has given the No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to the players to play in the overseas leagues including the IPL 2020 in the UAE.
Noteworthy, the CPL 2020 set to kick start with the opening clash between Trinbago Knight Riders and Guyana Amazon Warriors taking place on August 18 and the finals on September 10.
(With ESPNCricinfo Inputs)
