IPL 2022: Warner, Rabada, Cummins among stars to miss first phase

The IPL 2022 is tentatively scheduled to begin from March 27. The likes of David Warner, Kagiso Rabada, Pat Cummins and more could miss the opening half. Here's why.

The Mega Auction for the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) is set to be held this weekend. However, the franchises need to act smart before buying players, keeping a few of their international commitments in mind. As per reports, quite a few star players could miss out for the same reason, at least for the opening half.

According to ESPNCricinfo, Pat Cummins, David Warner, and Steven Smith will be busy with Australia's tour of Pakistan until April 5. Also, the South African trio of Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Marco Jansen will be involved in their home series against Bangladesh until April 11. As of now, reports indicate that the IPL could begin from March 27 and run until late May.

As per an email to the franchise from the IPL, Cricket Australia (CA) has informed that the Australian touring players in Pakistan cannot travel to India for IPL before April 6. Also, the players taking part in the Sheffield Shield will be available to travel from April 5. Australia's chairman of selectors, George Bailey, has already indicated that the IPL is a "development opportunity", and CA will not release players while they are into international commitment.

Cummins, Warner and Rabada will be featured in the marquee list of the ten players during the auction. It will be interesting to see if and which franchises go in to bid for them. Also, England's Jonny Bairstow and Windies's Jason Holder could miss the opening week. England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket Windies (CWI) have made it clear that the players would not be available before March 28, when England's Windies tour ends.

Also, ECB wants its players to finish off their IPL commitments by May 29 before returning for the home Test series against New Zealand from June 2. On the other hand, Windies travels to the Netherlands for ODIs from May 31, as CWI has yet to issue any clarification. However, Mumbai Indians' (MI) Kieron Pollard will lead the Caribbean team.

In the meantime, Shakib Al Hasan will miss out between May 8-23, as Bangladesh plays Sri Lanka in a couple of Tests at home. However, there is no clarity on his availability during Bangladesh's tour of South Africa in March-April. Additionally, his teammate Mustafizur Rahman could also miss out on some of the IPL actions due to his commitments with the Bangladesh limited-overs squad. At the same time, Litton Das, Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam are doubtful, depending on their selections against SL and SA.