The England and Wales Cricket Board has cleared the passage for English players participation in the Indian Premier League 2021, which will resume in the UAE from September 19.
The ECB on Tuesday announced to postpone its upcoming limited-overs tour of Bangladesh, which was originally scheduled to be held in September and October.
The tour is now deferred to March 2023. The move enables all the contracted English players’ availability for the IPL.
The BCCI in a bid to ensure strong field has been persuading the national cricket boards to release their players for the IPL, which in April was postponed after several players, teams’ support staff and the ground staff were tested positive for Covid-19 infection.
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The ECB said that it and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) have mutually agreed to reschedule the tour, which includes three ODIs and as many T20Is.
Although the ECB statement gave no reason for the postponement, reports said that Covid-19 related quarantine protocols were behind the rescheduling.
Meanwhile, the statement also said that the development would give the English players an opportunity to be drafted by teams in the remainder of the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL), scheduled to be held from September 19 in the UAE.
Following the move, many England cricketers are expected to link up with their respective IPL franchises.
English players form a major part of the foreign players pool for the cash-rich IPL.
Moeen Ali and Sam Curran (Chennai Super Kings), Sam Billings, Tom Curran, and Chris Woakes (Delhi Capitals), Eoin Morgan (Kolkata Knight Riders), Chris Jordan and Dawid Malan (Punjab Kings), Jos Buttler (Rajasthan Royals), and Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy (Sunrisers Hyderabad) add a huge value to their respective teams and the league.
The remaining 31 matches of the IPL will be played in the UAE across three venues – Sharjah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
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