On Sunday, New Zealand Cricket (NZC)’s Chief David White has confirmed that the New Zealand players who featured in the first half of the IPL will definitely take part in the second half. Earlier, reports confirmed that BCCI are in talks with other international boards for players availability.
Earlier in the year, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) had stated that it would be tough for the English players to feature in the second half of the postponed season, with several international fixtures clashing. It stretched to confusion over the players’ availability from the other countries, including Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
While New Zealand Cricket hadn’t confirmed the players’ availability until now, NZC’s chief David White confirmed that the BlackCaps stars will definitely feature in the second half of the IPL. The confusion over the players’ availability was due to the BlackCaps’ clash against Pakistan, where they would be playing a long stretch of limited-overs, that consists of six games.
“New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson, Trent Boult, James Neesham, and Lockie Ferguson will feature in the second phase of the IPL 2021 in the UAE,” White stated as quoted by Pakistan’s GEO TV.
Earlier today, Cricbuzz had reported that the BCCI are in constant touch with the various cricketing boards, to allow the international stars to feature in the cash-rich tournament, which would resume in September, after being postponed owing to COVID-19. NZC’s confirmation would come as happy news to several franchises, including defending champions Mumbai Indians.