The BCCI are in talks with the CWI to change the schedule of the Caribbean Premier League to allow West Indian players to feature in the UAE phase of IPL 2021.
On May 29, the Board of Control for Cricket in India held a special meeting, where it was decided that the 14th edition of the IPL will be moved to the UAE. The remaining 31 matches will be hosted in the UAE from the third week of September. However, due to the packed International and domestic schedule, there are serious question marks over the availability of top Overseas players.
The reports are coming out that the availability of Caribbean players is in doubt as the Caribbean Premier League concludes on September 19, just before the start of the IPL. The BCCI has made a request to the Cricket West Indies to prepone the CPL to help them out. But West Indies have three limited overs series lined up before the CPL against Pakistan, South Africa and Australia, which makes it very hard to tweak the CPL schedule.
We remain hopeful that some solution will be found. But we haven’t heard from any of the leagues
a franchise official quoted to Hindustan Times.
If the West Indies players are unavailable, many IPL franchises will suffer major blows. Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell are key players for Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders, respectively.
KKR could also miss Sunil Narine, Punjab Kings will not have Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran, and Delhi Capitals will be without Shimron Hetmyer.
Apart from these, IPL franchises could also miss the services of other overseas players. CSK’s Faf du Plessis will be leading St. Lucia Zouks in the CPL, while RR’s Chris Morris will be playing for Barbados Tridents.
The England and Wales Cricket Board has already announced that England players will not participate in the rescheduled IPL leg. Australian media has reported that Pat Cummins will not return for the UAE leg.
With the T20 World Cup slated to begin from the third week of October, most of the cricket boards are focusing on the preparations and are reluctant to release their players for the IPL 2021.
