Indian cricket has flexed its muscle to overrule South African plans for the world Test championship final, cutting back preparation time for the likes of Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen ahead of their showdown with Australia by insisting they stay in India until the end of the IPL.
The resumption of the IPL, after conflict between India and Pakistan, is a far bigger money spinner than the Test decider, forcing difficult conversations among boards and franchises as cricket’s hectic calendar strains to cope with a week’s delay.
South African speedster Kagiso Rabada.Credit: Getty Images
CSA’s team performance arm initially pushed a hard line on Wednesday night, insisting that its eight IPL players would not be part of the resuming tournament for any longer than the originally slated May 25 finish of the competition.
“One thing we’ve made clear, and we are finalising it with the IPL and the BCCI, is that we are sticking to our original plan when it comes to WTC preparations with May 26 being the latest for the Test guys to come back,” CSA’s director of cricket Enoch Nkwe said overnight.
But a few hours later, Nkwe issued a clarification to Indian and South African media that acknowledged conversations going on well above his station, at executive and board levels between CSA, the BCCI and IPL franchises.
“Correction – the squad will resume training for the game on June 3rd,” he said. “The matter is being discussed higher up than me. At ground level, we are focusing on preps for the WTC final.”
That backflip means Rabada, Jansen, Aiden Markram, Lungi Ngidi and Tristan Stubbs, among others, may arrive in London only a week before the start of the WTC final, having spent the past couple of months focused on Twenty20 and now having to readjust to Test matches.
South Africa are scheduled to play a warm-up fixture against Zimbabwe at Arundel on June 3, but given Nkwe’s clarification the dates for that match may have to be revised.
Should the Proteas’ prep time be cut short, it will be the second time in as many Test championship finals that Australia have benefited from the IPL ties of their opponents.
In 2023, India had four players take part in the IPL final on May 29 and then turn out in the Test decider a week later, whereas for Australia, only Cameron Green was involved in the latter stages of the tournament for Mumbai Indians.
Cricket Australia had previously stated that it would support players regardless of whether they wished to return to India, but did not declare a fixed date on which they must report for Test duty.
Only one member of Australia’s Test squad – Josh Inglis – is likely to face the Proteas’ dilemma if, as expected, Mitchell Starc withdraws from the remainder of the competition following a hectic exit from India when air raid warnings cancelled the game he played in Dharamsala.
Inglis, who like Starc plays for Delhi Capitals, was still weighing up his options on Thursday morning.
Among other Australian Test squad members, captain Pat Cummins and deputy Travis Head are set to return to India to play for Sunrisers Hyderabad, but know their last game is on May 25 as the side has already been eliminated from the knockout stage.
Josh Hazlewood (Royal Challengers Bangalore) has ruled out a return to the IPL due to a shoulder niggle, leaving Inglis and Starc as the only other Test participants with uncertain IPL playing status. Delhi are fifth on the table.
Australia held the first of a couple of Brisbane-based training camps for non-IPL players this week, and will also train for about a week in London before the Test final starts on Wednesday, June 11.
As has become recent custom, Cummins’ team are not playing any kind of formal warm-up match, preferring to focus on centre wicket training.
Bowler Sean Abbott will not return to the Pakistan Super League after the charter plane close shave, but Ben Dwarshuis plans to go back.
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