Cricket Australia yet to decide on availability of players for IPL 2021 in UAE

Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley has confirmed that they have not made a concrete decision regarding the availability of Australian players for the remaining games of IPL 2021. BCCI had confirmed on Saturday that IPL 2021 will be concluded in UAE during September and October.

The Australian players and staff that featured in IPL 2021 completed their isolation period in Sydney on Monday. The complete contingent involved players, staff, coaches, commentators, and match officials. They had to travel back to their homeland via Maldives due to Australian borders being closed for passengers arriving from India. The group coming out of quarantine excludes players like Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa, and Kane Richardson. The trio returned to Australia after two weeks of IPL 2021.

The Australian team is not likely to play a series when IPL 2021 is due but it remains to be seen whether players will be open to entering another bio bubble during such a rigorous schedule. The T20 World Cup is also set to take place in October. BCCI is set to host the tournament, but there are suggestions that World Cup will be moved to UAE. Nick Hockley had confirmed that they will soon have discussion regarding IPL 2021.

“Once we get back together as a group that [the IPL] is something we’ll obviously need to discuss. Our players returning from the IPL have only today come out of quarantine, so our first priority is to make sure they are reunited with their families…we [then] have a tour to prepare for in the West Indies.”

After the T20 World Cup, Team Australia will undergo a two-week quarantine in Australia. They have a test series against Afghanistan before the all-important Ashes series against England in December. Hockey has also confirmed that CA is working on getting the COVID-19 vaccines for players before they go depart in late June. The next assignment for the Australian team is the white ball series against West Indies in the Caribbean. Cricket Australia has announced the 23-men squad for the series against West Indies in July but it is expected to be cut short to 18.