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Updated May 12th, 2021 at 12:48 IST

Australia cricket schedule 2021: David Warner and co.'s commitments from June-December

Australia cricket schedule 2021: Australian players will be home soon with their families for long as they have no international cricket till September atleast.

Reported by: Jatin Malu
Australia cricket schedule 2021
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With IPL 2021 suspended, Australian players departed from India and are currently stationed in the Maldives where they are serving the mandatory quarantine period before they head back home. The Australian cricketers' trip to the Maldives has been forced due to the Australian government's travel ban on India till May 15 because of the explosion of COVID-19 cases in the country. As a result, questions have been raised on Australia's cricket schedule for the year and whether it would be feasible to host the remainder of the IPL 2021 later this year.

Australia cricket schedule 2021: No international fixtures for Aussies till October

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison had refused to consider an exemption and Cricket Australia had also ruled out seeking one from the government. As a result, the Australians, including David Warner, will stay in the Maldives for a few days before flying home alongside players from other countries such as Rashid Khan. The postponement of IPL 2021 has given Australian players ample time to spend with their families as they do not have any international fixtures lined up in the near future. Let's take a look at Australia cricket schedule 2021.

The Australian team have no international matches until October. After losing the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India, the Men in Yellow were supposed to tour South Africa for a three-match Test series but the assignment was called off in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The Aaron-Finch led side's next international assignment as of now is the tour of Bangladesh where they will play a three-match T20I series. The schedule for the same hasn't been announced yet.

The series against Bangla Tigers will be followed by the T20 World Cup 2021 that is slated to be played in India. The T20 World Cup 2021 will be played from October 18 - November 15. After the marquee event, Australia will host the Rashid Khan-powered Afghanistan side for a one-off Test match and then arch-rivals England for the Ashes 2021. The Ashes 2021 will be played Down Under from November 21 to January 2022. On the other hand, Australia's white-ball specialists will feature in the Big Bash League 2021, which normally starts from the first or the second week of December

David Warner and other Australian players unlikely to take part in remainder of IPL 2021

Warner, who led SRH to glory in IPL 2016, was stripped off the franchise's captaincy midway during the IPL 2021. The Men in Orange had a disastrous IPL 2021 campaign as they finished at the bottom in the IPL 2021 points table before the tournament was abruptly suspended midway due to COVID-19 cases in the bio-bubble. Out of the seven matches they played, SRH lost six and won a solitary game.

Moreover, after the sixth match, the SRH management also sacked David Warner from captaincy and handed it over to Kane Williamson, a move that faced a lot of criticism from the IPL fans. The Australian was subsequently dropped from SRH's playing XI and the franchise's head coach Trevor Bayliss had also made it clear that Warner will not be in their scheme of things in the near future.

Should the BCCI host the event post the T20 World Cup this year, the batsman might either be discouraged from spending another month in an overseas country in a bio-bubble away from his family or Cricket Australia might insist that he train for the iconic Ashes series at home, scheduled to begin from the end of November this year. As a result, Warner's return for the remainder of IPL 2021 looks unlikely.

The Australian scenario could apply to the likes of Steve Smith and Pat Cummins as well, who are in Australia's Test team and were an integral part of the DC and KKR teams this season respectively. Even Australia's T20 specialists such as Glenn Maxwell, Chris Lynn and Daniel Sams might find it difficult to play due to the Big Bash League scheduled in the second week of December, also considering the bio-bubble restrictions in place. It is worth to be mentioned that players pulling out at any stage of the tournament means that they will not be paid for the entire season.

SOURCE: CRICKET.COM.AU

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Published May 12th, 2021 at 12:48 IST

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