IPL 2021: BCCI confirms availability of England players

The BCCI have confirmed the availability of England players for the second leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL). England Cricket Board (ECB) had earlier made it clear they won’t allow their players to prefer IPL over national commitments and with England taking on Bangladesh for 3 ODIs and as many T20Is during the same time as IPL, chances of the participation of England players looked grim. However, the tour was postponed to 2023 which opened the gates for England players to make an appearance in the UAE leg of IPL.

The player will now depart for the UAE along with their Indian counterparts in the same charter plane post the conclusion of the Test series, on September 14. England players including, Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Moeen Ali are an integral part of their respective teams thus their availability will definitely bring a sigh of relief for the franchises. For Rajasthan Royals though, two of their main players, Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer are unlikely to return for the second leg. Stokes has taken an indefinite break from all forms of cricket to focus on his mental well-being while Jofra Archer has still not recovered from the elbow injury.

“The English players will be available for the resumption of the IPL in the UAE. The BCCI has the green signal. This shows the brilliant working relationship that the secretary has with not just the ECB, but also the BCB,” a BCCI source was quoted as saying by Free Press Journal.

Even though England and New Zealand players will be available to grace the tournament, it is still not clear whether Australia and other cricket boards will allow their players to prefer IPL over national commitments, especially with T20 World Cup nearing. However, the BCCI is trying hard to get the required permissions from the other cricket boards. If in case some players are unable to participate in the UAE leg, teams will be allowed to opt for replacements.