Follow UsThere are 20 South African players in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, out of which eight have been named in the squad for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia, to be held at Lord's from June 11. And, the Cricket South Africa (CSA) wants those eight players to return back home by May 26, reported Cricbuzz.
The IPL 2025 final was scheduled to take place on May 25, which has now been postponed to June 3 after the league was suspended for more than a week because of the India-Pakistan tension.
All these players were issued NOCs until May 25, and South Africa’s Test head coach Shukri Conrad and director of national teams and high performance Enoch Nkwe are hoping that the players will prioritise the WTC final over the IPL. The league stage will end on May 27 before the playoffs start on May 29.
Corbin Bosch (Mumbai Indians), Wiaan Mulder (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Marco Jansen (Punjab Kings), Aiden Markram (Lucknow Super Giants), Lungi Ngidi (Royal Challengers Bengaluru), Kagiso Rabada (Gujarat Titans), Ryan Rickelton (Mumbai Indians) and Tristan Stubbs (Delhi Capitals) are the eight players who have been named in the South African WTC squad.
"The initial agreement with IPL-BCCI was, with the final being on the 25th, our players would return on the 26th, so that it allows them ample time before we fly out on the 30th," Conrad said in Johannesburg.
"That is the ongoing conversations that are being had between people in a higher pay grade than I am - the director of cricket (Nkwe) and Pholetsi (Moselki, the CEO of CSA). They're dealing with that. We want our players back on the 26th and hopefully that comes to fruition."
SRH are out of the race for the playoffs, but the other aforementioned teams are very much alive in the competition. As a result, there’s a high possibility that Bosch, Jansen, Markram, Ngidi, Rabada, Rickelton and Stubbs could miss the playoffs given their respective teams qualify.
"It is an individual decision, obviously, to return or to play or continue. But one thing we've made it clear, and we are finalising that with IPL and BCCI, is sticking to our original plan when it comes to the WTC preparations. Obviously, with May 26 being the latest for the Test guys to come back,” said Nkwe.
The Proteas are scheduled to reach England on May 31 and will play Zimbabwe in a four-day warm-up match at Arundel from June 3.