The South Africa squad for the June 11-15 WTC final at Lord’s includes eight players who are playing in the lucrative IPL, the final for which has been moved from May 25 to June 3
South African paceman Lungi Ngidi has returned for the Indian Premier League’s final phase and several of his compatriots are likely to follow even though it may limit their preparations for next month’s World Test Championship final against Australia.
The IPL will resume on Saturday after India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire following days of fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
The South Africa squad for the June 11-15 WTC final at Lord’s includes eight players who are playing in the lucrative IPL, the final for which has been moved from May 25 to June 3.
South Africa were scheduled to assemble in England on May 31 May and play a warm-up match against Zimbabwe from June 3-6 before heading to London.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru posted a video on social media on Thursday confirming the return of several of their players, including Ngidi.
“Back at base and locked in!,” the franchise said.
South Africans Tristan Stubbs and Aiden Markram – both part of the WTC final squad – are set to rejoin Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants respectively, ESPNcricinfo reported.
Both IPL franchises did not immediately respond to Reuters calls and messages seeking confirmation.
A Punjab Kings official confirmed South African Marco Jansen was scheduled to rejoin the IPL side.
Bengaluru, chasing their maiden IPL title, have been reinforced by the returns of English trio Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell and Phil Salt.
Australian Tim David and West Indian Romario Shepherd have also linked up with Bengaluru, who play Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday.
Jos Buttler will reunite with Gujarat Titans but will skip the playoff, should his team qualify, to be available for England’s six limited-overs matches against West Indies beginning on May 29.
This isn’t the first time IPL commitments have affected WTC preparations. In 2023, several Indian players played the IPL final just a week before the Test final. Australia had only one player, Cameron Green, involved in the IPL playoffs that year.
This time, most of Australia’s Test squad will be fresh. Only Josh Inglis, and maybe Mitchell Starc (who might pull out of the IPL after a chaotic exit from India), are still tied to IPL franchises. The rest, including Pat Cummins and Travis Head, will return to India briefly, but their team, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), are already out of the tournament.
Meanwhile, Australia is holding training camps in Brisbane and will prepare in London before the final begins on June 11. They won’t play a practice match but will focus on match-style training.
Australian pacer Sean Abbott won’t return to the Pakistan Super League after a recent flight scare, though Ben Dwarshuis plans to resume playing.
