Follow UsNot for the first time in the last one year, Cricket South Africa (CSA) find themselves in an extremely awkward situation, having to choose between Test cricket (country) and T20 cricket (revenue).
Back in February 2024, CSA effectively sacrificed a two-Test series against New Zealand by sending a ‘D’ team to ensure that none of the marquee South African players missed the SA20. The board came under extreme fire for that decision but it worked out well in the end, with South Africa making it to the World Test Championship (WTC) Final despite the 'forfeit'.
Now, a year on, T20 cricket once again threatens to derail South Africa’s WTC hopes as CSA have to now choose between compromising WTC Final preparation and possibly alienating their relationship with the BCCI and IPL.
The WTC Final starts on June 11 and South Africa are scheduled to play a four-day warm-up game with Zimbabwe from June 3. Logic would dictate the South African players missing the IPL Playoffs, which starts on May 29. CSA had also only granted NOC to its players till May 25, the original date of the IPL 2025 final.
However, a report from The Age suggests that, after initially vowing to call back its players on May 26, CSA, after fresh rounds of talk with the BCCI, are now leaning towards letting its players stay back in India till June 3, the date of the IPL 2025 final.
That would mean many key Proteas players will have less than a week to prepare for the WTC Final. The Zimbabwe warm-up game will also either have to be pushed back or canceled altogether.
Why the decision is not a straightforward one for CSA is because IPL franchises directly contribute to a major part of the board’s revenue, with all franchises in the SA20 being owned by IPL team owners. Thus, in a way, the board might feel obligated to let its players stay back and complete IPL 2025.
Even then, the WTC Final is the biggest game in South African cricket history, and so compromising it — despite the consequences — might enrage supporters back home.
Needless to say, the biggest winners out of this saga are Australia. None of their key players will be partaking in the IPL playoffs, and those who are flying back to India — Cummins, Head etc — will return before June 1 as their team has already been knocked out of the competition.