Reports | South African players to leave for IPL after second ODI on April 4
South Africa's IPL-bound players will reportedly play only the first two ODIs against Pakistan and then will leave for the IPL in a chartered flight, exactly like the English and Australian players who joined last year's IPL. That way, the players will be barred from a seven-day Quarantine.
South Africa are slated to play Pakistan in a three-match ODI series, starting from April 2Â followed by four T20Is running till April 16, even though the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League kick starts on April 9. That would've meant many star players, including Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, and Quinton de Kock, missing out on a few matches but as things stand, the players are slated to fly out to India after the second ODI on April 4.
ESPNcricinfo reports that franchises are pooling in to arrange a chartered flight to allow some of the players to not miss their team's first matches. According to BCCI guidelines, team members do not need to do the mandatory seven-day quarantine in their hotel rooms if they are moving between biosecure team bubbles via chartered flights. That's why commercial flights are not a feasible option for any team.
Defending champions Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore will play the opening game of the season on April 9 in Chennai with last year's finalists Delhi Capitals taking on Chennai Super Kings on the next day. All these teams have plenty of South African players in their arsenal, even though retired AB de Villiers would be linking up with the RCB squad ahead of the time.
Among the selected players, Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje will turn up for Delhi Capitals while wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock and David Miller will be with Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals respectively. Pacer Lungi Ngidi was also selected in the South African squad and upon joining, and he will be playing for Chennai Super Kings.