IPL 2021: Cricket Australia To Grant NOCs To IPL-Bound Players On Case-By-Case Basis
IPL 2021: Last year's Indian Premier League was held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), but the upcoming season is set to be held in India. 19 Australian cricketers had played in IPL 2020.
Highlights
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CA's Interim CEO feels that IPL has proved its bio-security protocols
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IPL 2020 was held in UAE
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Australia are set to face New Zealand in an upcoming T20I series
Nick Hockley, Cricket Australia's (CA) Interim CEO, on Wednesday, confirmed that the board would be granting No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to its players on a case by case basis for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). 19 Australian cricketers had participated in the 2020 IPL which was held in UAE in September-November, and each team had its bio-secure bubbles. The upcoming season of the T20 tournament is set to be played in India, commencing April this year.
"We have, obviously, got precedent on that from the IPL last year. We have got, obviously, the IPL, if you like, [has] proven its bio-security protocols. As and when applications are made, we will consider each of those case-by-case, on their merits," Sydney Morning Herald quoted Hockley as saying.
Australia's three-match Test tour of South Africa was postponed on Tuesday due to an "unacceptable" coronavirus risk. The Australian board said that travelling from Australia to South Africa at this current time would have had an unacceptable level of health and safety risk to the visiting players.
Hockley also confirmed that the T20I squad for the New Zealand series would not be changed just because the Test series against South Africa has been postponed.
As the series between Australia and South Africa was postponed, the ICC on Tuesday confirmed that New Zealand has now become the first team to qualify for the finals of the World Test Championship (WTC). India, Australia, and England are the other three teams that will be fighting it out to battle against the Kiwis in the summit clash.
David Warner, Steven Smith, Pat Cummins, and Mitchell Starc were a part of the Test squad for the series against South Africa and as a result, these players were not a part of the T20I squad.
Australia will travel to New Zealand on February 7 and then the side will quarantine in Christchurch for 14 days ahead of the upcoming T20I series.
T20I squad for series against NZ: Aaron Finch (capt), Matthew Wade (vc), Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams, Tanveer Sangha, D'Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.
Australia Cricket Team