IPL in UAE: England and Australia contingent can only play from September 26
Rajasthan Royals to suffer most as they have Buttler, Smith and Archer in their ranks
England and Australia’s IPL-bound players are likely to miss the first week of Indian Premier League in the UAE after it was announced that the two teams will play six white-ball games from September 4-16 at Southampton and Manchester respectively.
England and Australia will be playing three T20 Internationals at the Ageas Bowl on September 4, 6 and 8 while the ODIs will be held on September 11, 13 and 16 at the Old Trafford.
The latest that the players can arrive in the UAE is September 17 or 18 and as per the IPL SOP, will be quarantined for six days. On the seventh day, they will enter the bio-bubble provided they post three negative RT-PCR tests during quarantine.
Effectively, none of the players will be available for at least the first two to three games of their respective franchises.
A total of 29 players from England and Australia are part of the eight IPL squads including top draws such as David Warner, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Steve Smith and this year’s record buy Pat Cummins.
Rajasthan Royals are likely to suffer the most in their absence as they have Buttler, Smith and Archer in their ranks.
As per the joint release issued by ECB and CA, the upcoming series will also be a bio-secure behind the closed doors event with the Australian team reaching UK on August 24.
The Australian squad will travel to Derbyshire’s Incora County Ground before leaving for the Ageas Bowl after England’s third Test match against Pakistan on August 27.
Australia will be playing 50-over intra-squad practice games and three T20 warm-up matches before the series.
The three ODIs will form part of the ICC World Cup Super League.