What comes as pleasant news for IPL franchises, New Zealand players will feature in the second phase of Indian Premier League 2021, slated to be held in UAE from September 19 to October 15.
The decision comes even as Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday (August 5) confirmed hosting New Zealand for a white-ball series from September 17 to October 3.
"That is what we have been told. The NZC will release the IPL players," a franchise official told Cricbuzz.
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With this development, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will heave a sigh of relief as they had named Kane Williamson as captain midway through the first half of IPL 2021.
Apart from Williamson, there are seven other Kiwi players who are part of the 14th edition of IPL, including Trent Boult (MI), Jimmy Neesham (MI), Adam Milne (MI), Tim Seifert (KKR), Lockie Ferguson (KKR), Kyle Jamieson (RCB) and Mitchell Santner (CSK).
Meanwhile, the BCCI has told the IPL franchises that it will inform them about the overseas cricketers’ availability by August 10.
While there is still uncertainty over the availability of the Australian players, English cricketers are now likely to take part in the UAE-leg of IPL 14 after ECB recently postponed their scheduled tour of Bangladesh to March 2023.
A total of 31 matches will be played in the second phase of IPL 2021, which got underway in April in India but was postponed on May 4 after the completion of 29 matches due to COVID-19 positive cases in bio-bubbles of multiple franchises.
(Inputs from Cricbuzz)
