“It will be the second successive season in which players such as David Warner, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis have missed the opening rounds of Australia’s domestic competitions to participate in the lucrative domestic T20 tournament,” said a report by cricket.com.au.
This year’s edition of the IPL was stopped after May 2 due to a catastrophic second wave of COVID-19 in India breaching the bio-bubbles in Ahmedabad and New Delhi. About 40 Australian players, coaches, broadcasters and support staff had to spend 14 days in the Maldives as Australia shut its international borders, before eventually returning via a charter flight provided by the BCCI.
In July, it was announced by BCCI that the remaining matches of the IPL will be played in UAE from September 19 to October 15. The IPL will be wrapped up just two days before the start of the men’s T20 World Cup, also relocated from India due to COVID-19 concerns.
Seven of the eight players who opted out of Australia’s…