Cricket South Africa (CSA) has considered releasing some of their players to take part in the Indian Premier League (IPL) otherwise who would be busy in the home series against Bangladesh to miss the first quarter of the league.
The likes of Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Marco Jansen, and Aiden Markram could miss a substantial chunk of games from the Indian Premier League (IPL) as they would be coming after the end of the two-Test series against Bangladesh.
Cricket South Africa (CSA) has considered releasing some of their players to take part in the Indian Premier League (IPL) otherwise who would be busy in the home series against Bangladesh to miss the first quarter of the league.
CSA said in a statement that they will think about the matter but they cannot give any statement right now.
“We will consider the matter after the IPL auction has taken place when we know which players are going to play in the IPL,”
Lawson Naidoo, the head of CSA, revealed on Friday (February 11).
The statement from CSA came just ahead of the auction on Saturday and Sunday, which could result in the rise of the price of these South Africans. Nortje has already been retained by Delhi Capitals and bowlers like Rabada, Ngidi, Jansen, and Markram could be expensively bought by the franchises, if they are available are not restricted by the board.
The IPL is expected to start from March 27 and those players joining the franchise after April 11 could miss five to six matches from IPL because of the compulsory five-day period of required quarantine after they arrive in India. Asked if the likes of Rabada and Nortje will be released, the CSA boss said,
“The team management has not discussed the matter as yet.”
As far as the availability of Quinton de Kock, David Miller, Faf du Plessis, and Imran Tahir is concerned, it is not a problem since they either don’t play Tests or don’t play for the country at all. There are 33 South Africans in the 590-player auction list in the IPL. South Africa and Bangladesh will play three ODIs and two Tests which run on March 18 and April 11.
After India’s recent tour of South Africa, the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) and Cricket South Africa (CSA) had built a strong relationship, and BCCI at one stage gave it the thought of moving IPL to South Africa. For the record, the BCCI still has not ruled out that option yet.
Players like Jason Holder, David Warner, de Kock, Pat Cummins, du Plessis among others could get some serious attention in the upcoming auction but there is a discussion that the dictation will be done by the future-committed players.
With the mega auctions not happening in the coming years, the franchise will possibly go for players who have a future in them — like Shreyas Iyer (27), Devdutt Padikkal (21), Ishan Kishan (23), and Shahrukh Khan (26), for instance.
“They all are young and proven performers in the league. They could give a team 10 years and hence it will be wise to invest in them,”
said a franchise official.
According to the official, the biggest challenge for the franchises is to make a balance between requirement and availability, with the lack of information about the overseas players especially from Australia and South Africa.
Another interesting fact in the auctions is the mystery that Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar have signed themselves in as bowlers rather than all-rounders. Thakur has so far played seven Tests and 19 ODIs for team India as an all-rounder — fifth bowler and No 7 batsman – and with consistency. But for the auction, he has signed himself as a pure specialist bowler.
The same goes for Chahar too, a right-arm medium-paced bowler, who has proved his batting skills a couple of times in international cricket. Although he could have easily managed a spot of an all-rounder position in the upcoming auction.
As mysterious as the case of Ambati Rayudu, who has sold himself as a sole wicketkeeper.
“It is the players’ propagative to stress on their expertise but the decision is intriguing,”
said a franchise official.
After registering as pure bowlers, Chahar and Thakur have pushed themselves back in the auction race. A specialist bowler would be called quite late as compared to the all-rounder when the franchise is about to invest a lot of money.
“It is not in their best interest but if they have done so still, it would not be without a motive,”
said the franchise official. Surely, not everything about an IPL auction is explicable.