Switch hit: Australian stars to play IPL as T20 World Cup preparation
Some of Australia’s leading white-ball players, including resting stars Steve Smith, David Warner and Glenn Maxwell, are on course to tune up for the Twenty20 World Cup by returning to the IPL next month.
An obscure triangular T20 series between Australia, Afghanistan and the West Indies will be officially cancelled this week, allowing a dozen or more Australians to head to the UAE and finish the postponed IPL.
Australian T20 star Glenn Maxwell.Credit:AP
It solves the problem of the club-versus-country argument and gives a decent chunk of Australia’s likely T20 World Cup team the opportunity to play at the tournament venues with and against the best T20 players in the world.
Smith, who is recovering well from an elbow injury, heads a list of recent Australian white-ball players who have IPL contracts and pulled out of the underwhelming tours of West Indies and Bangladesh. Others are Warner, Maxwell, Pat Cummins, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson and Daniel Sams.
Cummins is staying home with his pregnant fiancee, while the remaining players may all return to the IPL.
David Warner (right) in full PPE with IPL teammate Kane Richardson at the end of April, before the tournament was postponed.
Some players who have just returned from touring may want to stay home with family after going into another fortnight’s quarantine on Tuesday evening, this time in Adelaide.
However, others may want to try and restore some confidence and get some decent performances on the board after playing on some of questionable T20 international wickets during the tour of Bangladesh. Australia lost their T20 series in both nations 4-1 but won a one-day series in the West Indies 2-1.
The only batsman to enhance his reputation was Mitchell Marsh. He was one of only four players to average double figures with the bat during the tour of Bangladesh.
There was another hitch when the returning players found they were still waiting for the green light from the South Australian government to train while in quarantine.
The only reason the squad returned to Adelaide was an understanding they could train as they had done last year after returning from a one-day series in England.
Those in the squad who have IPL contracts are Dan Christian, Moises Henriques, Adam Zampa, AJ Tye, Jason Behrendorff and Riley Meredith, although Meredith is recovering from a side strain.
The triangular series was organised by Afghanistan and set for India and then Sri Lanka as a warm-up to the T20 World Cup in October and November, but COVID-19 has made the logistics too difficult. In a COVID-free world the series had merit, with India the original venue for the T20 World Cup.
However, with India ravaged by the virus, the IPL was suspended and later moved to the UAE along with the T20 World Cup.
New Zealand have taken an enlightened approach to the IPL, allowing captain Kane Williamson and fast bowlers Trent Boult, Kyle Jamieson and Lockie Ferguson to miss tours of Pakistan and Bangladesh so they can play in the tournament.
Likewise, England recently postponed a tour of Bangladesh so their players could compete in the IPL, although some are likely to stay home given England’s hectic schedule.
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