IPL 2020: In a sad development, players from South Africa have found themselves in an extremely dicey quandary as, despite the apex cricket body of the Rainbow nation acceding to the participation of the players in the Indian Premier League, an ongoing moratorium on international travel imposed by the South African government in order to contain the pandemic may see the Proteas cricketers miss out on IPL.
With the indefinite postponement of World Cup T-20 paving way for IPL 2020, September 19 will mark the onset of the Indian domestic cricketing extravaganza in Dubai, owing to its firm grip over the pandemic situation.
Cricket South Africa and New Zealand have issued the NOC’s for their players to join forces with their respective sides in IPL 2020 as it is not en route to collide with the country’s respective events.
Now New Zealand being freed from the grip of the virus hasn’t made much noise but South Africa still battling hard with this virus, has imposed a stringent ban against any kind of international travel currently.
Now, we are oblivious of the fact that where this embargo on international travel will continue until September or not, but in case if it does, then 10 South African cricketers will lose a collective sum of Rs 34 crores from their IPL salaries.
Multiple South African cricketers like Imran Tahir, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Rilee Rossouw, Anrich Nortje and Colin Ingram who were lined up as hotshots for the imminent Caribbean Premier League 2020 had to forfeit their hopes of making it to West Indies due to the prevalence of stringent measures.
There is also a possibility of a clash between IPL 2020 and PSL matches which will be played in almost similar timelines.
The teams that are in line to bear the maximum brunt in case if the South African players fail to arrive will be Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings.
Both the teams had 3 South African players in their ranks as Chennai was heavily banking on Faf Du Plessis, Lungi Ndidi, and Imran Tahir while Bangalore retained the services of AB de Villiers and notched up Dale Steyn and Chris Morris in the auction.
Other squads with talented South African cricketers that can be impacted are Kings XI Punjab, Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Capitals, and Mumbai Indians.
Dale Steyn and ABD may still have some reprieve for themselves as they are going to participate in PSL with their salary being advanced.
