The South African head coach Shukri Conrad made it pretty clear that players involved in the IPL must adhere to their original return dates for national duties. The day IPL 2025 “resumes” after being interrupted due to the conflict between India and Pakistan is May 17. Earlier it was supposed to last only until May 25, but now it will step into June 3.
Eight South African players participating in the IPL have been selected for the World Test Championship final. From June 3 to 6, they shall be engaged in a warm-up game against Zimbabwe, after which they shall confront Australia in the WTC final beginning June 11. Conrad stressed that these players are bound to return back home by May 26 as per an original agreement, even after the change in the IPL timetable.
The agreement that we have with the IPL and with the BCCI is that if the final was on the 25th, our players would come back on the 26th so they had time to prepare before we left on the 30th. So, from our side, that hasn’t changed, he told the TOI. He went on to say that it is currently being worked on at the top-end of cricket management; however, he wants to stay firm on May 26 for getting players back.
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According to the new IPL schedule, the group stage will end on May 27, followed by the playoffs from May 29 to June 3. If South African players do withdraw, it means for the rest of the tournament, you won’t see the likes of Tristan Stubbs and Kagiso Rabada, and while some teams such as LSG can still make it to the play-offs, a big shake-up is guaranteed in case key players are withdrawn.
Other South African players in the IPL, such as Faf du Plessis and Quinton de Kock, are not part of the WTC final squad, so they can continue playing as long as their team is still in the competition.
