IPL 2021: Australian cricketers set to be available for the second half of the tournament
IPL-bound Australian cricketers are all set to travel to the UAE for the second half of the IPL 2021. The remainder of the competition will take place between September-October in the United Arab Emirates.
Reports from Cricbuzz have confirmed that barring Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) fast bowler Pat Cummins, who has communicated his unavailability long back, most Aussie cricketers will be traveling to the Middle-East.
The development comes after Australia's limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch launched a scathing attack on team-mates for skipping the tour of West Indies and Bangladesh. The opener had said it would be hard for the Australians to justify playing in the IPL after skipping national duties.
While speaking to radio station SEN WA, Finch said,
“I think they would find it hard to justify going back and playing that second half of the IPL. Just purely based on the workload coming up with a T20 World Cup and a huge home summer. It's really tough. It's a tough situation that everyone has been put in, but personally, I would find it hard to do that knowing how difficult it is and how challenging it is mentally, and on your family as well. That's what I would think,” Aaron Finch concluded.
Almost 20 cricketers from Australia are part of the IPL 2021. Out of those, nine players, including Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Jhye Richardson and Daniel Sams, who pulled out of national assignments, among others, are expected to turn up for the second phase of the cash-rich league.
Most overseas cricketers likely to turn up for IPL 2021
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has managed to convince overseas boards to allow their cricketers to take part in the remainder of the IPL 2021.
At one point, the participation of foreign players looked a far-fetched dream considering a jam-packed Future Tour Program ahead of the T20 World Cup.
The BCCI is currently trying to engage in a dialogue with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to allow its players for IPL 2021, who have already communicated that they won't leave players for the T20 league.