Cricket Australia and the England and Wales Cricket Board have both reportedly informed their Indian counterpart that their players won’t be able to play in the 2019 edition of the Indian Premier League beyond May 1.
The decision, if true, is understandable considering the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 begins on May 30. The IPL has also been advanced to begin on March 29 and will end on May 19. This means the Australian and English cricketers would miss the last 18 days of the tournament.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India, or the IPL governing council, has not made any announcement regarding the availability of international cricketers. However, a Mumbai Mirror report published on Tuesday said that franchises have been informed about the same unofficially.
The report also said there has been no update from other cricket boards about the availability of their players, but added that the South Africans could leave the tournament after May 12, which means they would miss the play-offs and finals week. However, this could change if the IPL is moved to South Africa on account of the general elections in India, which would be held around the same time.
The report said that the exact position of all cricket boards would be clear by the time the player auction is held in December. The report added that the auction would be held on December 17-18 in Jaipur.