IPL-Bound South Africa Players To Leave Pakistan ODI Series Midway

The Cricket South Africa (CSA) has allowed its IPL-bound players to leave the 3-match home ODI series against Pakistan after the first couple of matches.

5 players namely Kagiso Rabada, Quinton de Kock, Lungi Ngidi, David Miller, and Anrich Nortje were earlier already given permission to skip the T20I series against Babar Azam’s side. However, according to reports, now they will leave before the 3rd ODI to be available to play in the IPL 2021 from its outset.

The first ODI is scheduled on April 2, and the second on April 4, after which the aforementioned players will leave for India. The third ODI, on April 7th, will be followed by 4 T20Is. The IPL 2021 will commence on April 9th with the clash between defending champions, Mumbai Indians, for whom Quinton de Kock is likely to feature, against Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore.

“In terms of an agreement between CSA and the BCCI, those players awarded IPL contracts will be released early to join their respective teams,” the CSA said in a release.

Former cricketers unhappy with South African players skipping international matches for the IPL

Former players have expressed their disappointment with the senior Protea players opting out of the matches against Pakistan in favor of the IPL.

Former Pakistan captain, Rashid Latif is utterly unhappy and slams the CSA for allowing its players to go away from national duty. Latif even opines that the PCB should have contacted the CSA regarding the hosts not playing at their full strength.

“If Pakistan had left out their five main players, would South Africa have still played with Pakistan? Then why are Pakistan playing with them? Pakistan should not play a weak team. When both boards decided this series, they would have decided on playing their full-strength sides. You are fooling the broadcasters by playing weakened sides,” Rashid Latif was quoted as saying by Sportskeeda.

Senior South Africa speedster, Dale Steyn also aired his views on the senior players deciding to not compete with Pakistan. Dale Steyn was recently in the news as he was seen playing in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) but had pulled out of the IPL 2021 to spend time with his family.

I missed the reason why our big dogs aren’t playing the T20s against Pak?

— Dale Steyn (@DaleSteyn62) March 18, 2021

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