As the 13th season of Indian Premier League (IPL) gets underway from September 19 in UAE, early hiccups stand in the way for the franchises in some way or other.
Both franchises and the organizing committee are trying their best to sort out all such hassles for the smooth functioning of the league. But still, in the time of an ongoing pandemic, there are some issues that none of them can solve or exert any influence.
According to the latest development, South African cricketers are likely to miss out the beginning phase of the tournament. The whole nation has been under strict lockdown to combat the deadly virus, and thus, international travelling is also banned until the end of September.
The restriction in cross-border movement meant that South African players like AB de Villiers, Chris Morris, Quinton de Kock, Lungi Ngidi, and Dale Steyn amongst others couldn’t join their respective franchises in the initial phase.
None of the Proteas players, barring Imran Tahir, will be able to participate in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) that starts from August 18.
Since Tahir was in his native country, Pakistan, he luckily escaped and flew to the Caribbean Islands to take part in CPL. He will join his franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the scheduled time.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will be the most affected by this snub. RCB paid a whopping INR 10 crores to acquire Chris Morris, and they would not entertain the idea of missing out on his service.
Apart from Morris, the omission of two of their most crucial members, Dale Steyn and AB de Villiers, will be a massive blow to their squad.
On the other hand, Chennai Super Kings will miss out on Ngidi and Faf du Plessis if the restriction persists.
The cash-rich league had been shifted from the home nation to UAE, a country with less than 6,300 active COVID-19 cases.
SA players with IPL contracts: AB de Villiers (RCB), Quinton de Kock (MI), Dale Steyn (RCB), Chris Morris (RCB), Kagiso Rabada (DC), Lungi Ngidi (CSK), Faf du Plessis (CSK), Imran Tahir (CSK), David Miller (RR), Hardus Viljoen (KXIP).
