In a major development, several cricket boards have confirmed the availability of their players for the 2024 edition of Indian Premier League (IPL).
While Cricket Australia (CA) has said that most of their players will be available for the lucrative tournament, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has put conditions.
According to a report published in Cricbuzz, the cricket boards of Australia, South Africa, Afghanistan, New Zealand, and West Indies have assured the BCCI that their players will be available for the upcoming IPL, except for CA stating pacer Josh Hazlewood will take part in the league only from the first week of May.
Hazlewood, who was not retained by the RCB last month, is going to be at his home to attend the birth of his child at the end of March.
The report also claimed that Australian players due to feature in the Sheffield Shield final will have the option to choose between the IPL and the final of their domestic tournament.
While the Sheffield Shield final is scheduled to take place from March 21 to 25, the IPL 2024 window is from March 22 till the end of May with the exact dates yet to be finalised due to the upcoming elections in India.
While England players can play in the cash-rich event, their participation is subject to fitness and international commitments.
"ECB is prepared to make their players available for the duration of the Tournament, subject to fitness and international duty, and any periods of unavailability that players submitted on their auction applications. ECB are still in the process of finalising its schedule for the World T20 in June and if any individual players require specific management in the build-up to the World T20, Rob Key will liaise directly with the player and his franchise to make the necessary arrangements," BCCI wrote to the franchises as quoted by Cricbuzz.
On the other hand, Bangladesh Cricket Board, Cricket Ireland and Sri Lanka Cricket have reportedly given conditional approval.
BCB has informed the BCCI that Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam will not be available for IPL 2024, while Mustafizur Rahman will be allowed to play from March 22 to May 11. Bangladesh are due to play a Test series against Sri Lanka from March 30 to April 3.
"Taskin Ahmed and Md. Shoriful Islam, who have been listed for the auction, will not be available for the IPL 2024 edition," BCB told BCCI.
The Test series has also put the full participation of Sri Lankan players in jeopardy. However, Maheesh Theekshana, Wanindu Hasaranga, Matheesha Pathirana, and Dushmantha Chameera will be available for the entire duration since they do not play Tests.
Despite Ireland playing a Test against Afghanistan from March 22 and a T20 World Cup preparatory series in May, pacer Joshua Little has been permitted to take part in the league.
Players from the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), Cricket West Indies (CWI), Cricket South Africa (CSA), New Zealand Cricket (NZC) and Zimbabwe Cricket will feature in the competition for the complete duration.
(With Cricbuzz Inputs)
