Cricket South Africa has reversed its decision on the return date for its players participating in IPL 2025. Initially requiring players to return by May 26th for WTC Final preparations, the deadline has been extended to June 3rd.
Cricket South Africa (CSA) is reportedly set to change their plans with regards to their players returning from the IPL 2025 for their preparations ahead of the much anticipated World Test Championship Final (WTC) final against Australia, which is scheduled to take place on June 11 at Lord’s.
The 18th edition of Indian Premier League is set for resumption on May 17, with Royal Challengers Bengaluru taking on Kolkata Knight Riders at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The season was suspended for a week due to cross-border tensions between India and Pakistan, many overseas players, including South African cricketers, left India amid the uncertainty over resumption of the season.
As South Africa players rejoined respective IPL franchises for the remainder of the season, Cricket South Africa laid out a condition that the players should return by May 26 for the preparation ahead of the WTC Final.
Related Articles
“One thing we’ve made clear, and we are finalising it with the IPL and the BCCI, is that we are sticking to our original plan when it comes to WTC preparations with May 26 being the latest for the Test guys to come back.” CSA director of national teams Enoch Nkwe told the press.
Cricket South Africa takes big u-turn
A day after Cricket South Africa reiterated the May 26 deadline for its players to return from IPL 2025 for WTC Final preparations, director of national teams Enoch Nkwe provided a correction that the deadline for the Test squad has been pushed by a week.
“Correction – the squad will resume training for the game on June 3rd. “The matter is being discussed higher up than me. At ground level, we are focusing on preps for the WTC final.” Nkwe said.
The latest update means that South Africa players, who have been picked for the WTC Final against Australia next month at Lord’s, can stay with their respective IPL teams until the playoffs, easing franchise concerns while trimming their preparation window for the WTC final to just over a week. With CSA allowing players to stay through the IPL 2025 playoffs, it will have an impact on the planned unofficial warm-up match against Zimbabwe, which is set to be played in the English town of Arundel in West Sussex on June 3, the day IPL 2025 concludes.
8-WTC bound South Africa players are participating in the IPL 2025
Cricket South Africa announced the 15-member squad for their maiden World Test Championship against the defending champions Australia on June 11. The top players picked into the squad include Temba Bavuma, Aiden Markram, Marco Jansen, Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rababa, Keshav Maharaj, Tristan Stubbs, and Ryan Rickelton.
Out of which, 8 players are part of the ongoing IPL 2025, including Markram, Jansen, Ngidi, Rabada, Rickelton, Stubbs, and Jansen are playing high profiles at their respective franchises, but also they are the key players in South Africa’s hopes of lifting their maiden WTC title after finishing on the top of the points table.
Meanwhile, the BCCI picked six venues for the remaining league stage matches of the season, including Bengaluru, Jaipur, Lucknow, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Delhi. This was contrary to the earlier reports of the matches to be held at three venues. The playoffs will begin on May 29, with Qualifier 1, followed by the Eliminator and Qualifier 2 on May 31 and June 1, respectively.
The final of IPL 2025 will take place on June 3, pushed back from the originally scheduled date of May 25.
