Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Delhi Capitals (DC) had retained South African pacer Anrich Nortje for an amount of Rs 6.5 Crore ahead of the mega IPL auction but now in a major development, it is understood that the pacer’s availability in IPL 2022 is doubtful as he has not bowled much since November last year. It is important to mention that Nortje has been suffering due to his injury.
Big names missing
But Nortje is not the only South African cricketer who is going to be missing the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League. It is not sure whether players like- Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen and Lungi Ngidi, will be seen in action during the initial stage of the IPL as well.
It is worth mentioning that the South Africa cricket team will take on Bangladesh in a home series. The two teams will be involved in a three-match ODI series, scheduled to start on March 18. After the completion of the ODI series, the two teams will take part in a two-match Test series. The Test series is slated to end on April 12.
BCCI's stand
In a situation like this, the BCCI is expected to reach out to Cricket South Africa (CSA) director Graeme Smith on this matter.
“The BCCI will be approaching Graeme Smith and check out if some of the top players are available at least a bit earlier. We are hopeful of a solution as we share great rapport with CSA,” a BCCI official was quoted while talking to news agency PTI.
“Some of the franchises will be hurting if they aren’t available for three weeks,” the official further added.
On the other hand, South Africa Test team skipper Dean Elgar has spoken on this matter as well and according to him the cricketers “need to give Cricket South Africa an indication of if they are keen to go to IPL or if they are keen to play for Test side.”
“The players need to give Cricket South Africa an indication of if they are keen to go to IPL or if they are keen to play for Test side. It’s a bit of a tough one putting that in the players’ box but this I guess, this is where you see where players’ loyalty lies,” Elgar was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
