FILE - Gujarat Titans' Kagiso Rabada celebrates the dismissal of Punjab Kings' Prabhsimran Singh during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Gujarat Titans and Punjab Kings at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki, File)
Cricket South Africa (CSA) made a U-turn and said that the players for the summit match against Australia would now begin training on June 3 instead of May 26, just hours after announcing that South African players would return from the IPL for the World Test Championship final.
The IPL will return on May 17 with the competition final scheduled for June 3, the BCCI confirmed on May 12. Given that the WTC final is scheduled to start at Lord's on June 11, this put South African and Australian players in a difficult situation. CSA stated that they had informed BCCI that the players would return on May 26 and reaffirmed their commitment to the WTC final preparations initially.
"It is an individual decision, obviously, to return or to play or continue," CSA's director of national teams and high-performance Enoch Nkwe said during a press conference.
"One thing we've made clear, and we are finalising this with the IPL and the BCCI, is sticking to our original plan when it comes to the WTC preparations."
"May 26 is the latest for the Test guys to come back. The original plans don't change because the No. 1 priority is the WTC final. We've been engaging with them over the last day or two to make sure we're all on the same page."
Nkwe then retracted his comments, stating that the return date has been rescheduled, according to a report published in the West Australian Today. According to Nkwe, the CSA, the BCCI, and IPL teams are having discussions at the executive and board levels.
“Correction – the squad will resume training for the game on June 3rd,” he said. “The matter is being discussed higher up than me. At ground level, we are focusing on preps for the WTC final.”
Kagiso Rabada (Gujarat Titans), Lungi Ngidi (Royal Challengers Bengaluru), Tristan Stubbs (Delhi Capitals), Aiden Markram (Lucknow Super Giants), Ryan Rickelton (Mumbai Indians), Corbin Bosch (MI), Marco Jansen (Punjab Kings) and Wiaan Mulder (Sunrisers Hyderabad) are the 8 players that have also been named in the South African squad for the WTC Final.
According to the updated IPL 2025 schedule, the playoffs will begin on May 29 and end on June 3, the day of the final. As a result, South Africa's practice match against Zimbabwe will need to be postponed.
Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from IPL 2025,IPL Orange Cap, IPL Purple Cap, Most Sixes in IPL, Cricket, Sports and around the world.
