England players to be available for IPL as ECB prepares to postpone Bangladesh series

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is reportedly in talks with its Bangladesh counterpart to discuss the rescheduling of their upcoming bilateral series in September-October. According to ESPNcricinfo, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury, while speaking to local media, has said that they are discussing the possibility of postponing the bilateral series with ECB keeping in the mind the upcoming T20 World Cup. Chowdhury said that the proposal to postpone the series has come from ECB and potential dates are being looked into to conduct the matches after the World Cup. 

The postponement of the series would also allow England players to take part in the remaining matches of IPL 2021 later in September. The availability of English cricketers had come under the scanner after ECB administrator Ashley Giles had said their players won't take part in the second leg of IPL 2021 due to the bilateral series against Bangladesh. 

The BCCI suffered a blow when England and Bangladesh announced their players won't be taking part in the second phase of IPL 2021 due to prior bilateral commitments and the upcoming T20 World Cup. However, it has now been reported that the ECB and BCB are in discussions to move their bilateral series to a later date. Earlier, the chief of New Zealand Cricket, David White had confirmed that Kiwi players will be available for the second phase of IPL 2021. 

Meanwhile, Australian players' availability is still under the cloud after they pulled out from the recently-concluded white-ball series against the West Indies citing personal reasons. Australian cricketers, including David Warner, Steve Smith, Pat Cummins, and Glenn Maxwell have also made themselves unavailable for the upcoming white-ball series against Bangladesh. 

IPL 2021

The second leg of IPL 2021 is slated to resume from September 19 with the final set to be played on October 15. IPL 2021 will resume with a "blockbuster clash" between defending champion Mumbai Indians and MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings. There are also going to be seven double-headers with the first match starting at 3:30 pm IST and the second match at 7:30 pm IST. Most of the 31 matches will be played in Dubai (13), followed by Sharjah (10) and Abu Dhabi (8). The knockout stage of the premier T20 competition will begin on October 10 with Qualifier 1 taking place in Dubai, the Eliminator and Qualifier 2 in Sharjah on October 11 and 13, respectively. 

Image: PTI