IPL 2022: Availability of England and Australia players remain uncertain due to international commitments

The BCCI, on Tuesday (February 1), announced the players list for the upcoming mega auction for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. Out of 1214 registered cricketers, 590 were shortlisted who will go under the hammer on February 12 and 13 in Bengaluru. Among the shortlisted players, 47 are from Australia while 24 belong to England with pacer Jofra Archer also entering his name at the last moment despite not being available for the 2022 season.

However, the uncertainty around the availability of England and Australia players continue to be uncertain due to the international series lined up during the IPL. At the moment, the 2022 edition of the league is set to commence on March 27 and is expected to go on until May end.

With white-ball games of Australia’s Pakistan tour set to commence on March 29 and end on April 5, there is a possibility that the players picked for that series could miss the first week of the tournament. As far as England is concerned, many of their former cricketers blamed IPL for the decline of their Test team’s performance and the likes of Joe Root and Ben Stokes not registering for auction is one of the steps in improving the show in whites.

Also, there are chances of the ECB calling back their Test-bound players in May to be available for the three-match home series against New Zealand. The first Test is set to begin on June 2 and for some red-ball preparation, England players might have to reach home in time to feature in at least one round of County Championship by May 19.

Franchise official confirms no clarity has been given yet

One of the franchise officials, meanwhile, has confirmed that the BCCI is yet to give the entire clarity on the availability of England and Australia’s players in this aspect. “In an ideal scenario, we would have preferred to know the availability with the auction list. It helps in planning but there were occasions we were given this crucial the night before the auction,” the official said while speaking to Cricbuzz.

Also, the BCCI has reportedly told the teams that the availability details of overseas players will be sent to them in the coming days. “The IPL 2022 Player Auction Rules and the availability details of Overseas players along with the update on the players who have been reported or banned for suspect bowling action will be sent in due course,” the BCCI has said to the franchises.