Reports | Australia, England notify BCCI that players will be unavailable for IPL after May 1
The Australian and English cricket boards have reportedly informed BCCI authorities that their players will not be available to participate in this year’s IPL from May 1 onwards. This measure could have been taken to prevent any injuries ahead of the ICC ODI World Cup which starts on May 30.
Cricket Australia and the England and Wales Cricket Board have both reportedly informed the Indian governing body, BCCI, that their players will not be made available to participate in the 2019 edition of the Indian Premier League after May 1. The decision seemed totally feasible if one considered that the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 is slated to start on May 30.
Due to the upcoming elections in India, the IPL dates have also been reviewed and the league would now be played from March 29 and end on May 19. If the reports were to be believed then the Australian and English cricketers would miss the last 18 days of the tournament.
The two major governing bodies - BCCI or the IPL governing council have not made any announcement regarding the availability of international cricketers. But a Mumbai Mirror report published on Tuesday said that franchises have already been made aware about the issue.
The report further stated that there has been no update from other cricket boards about the availability of their players, but added that the South Africans could also leave the tournament after May 12. It is thought that the final decision of all cricket boards would be made clear by the time the player auction is held in December.