The cricket The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 players from South Africa (CSA) will return home by May 26 in order to prepare for the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia, which is set to take place at Lord’s from June 11 to June 15. South Africa’s training schedule currently clashes with the IPL playoffs, thus eight players are anticipated to miss the T20 league’s final stretch.
The original plan was for the IPL to end by May 25, which coincided nicely with the NOCs (No Objection Certificates) that South African players were given. The playoffs will now begin on May 29 and the final will take place on June 3 after the league was suspended for a week owing to political concerns between India and Pakistan.
However, CSA has declined to extend player availability past the initial May 25 deadline. According to national coach Shukri Conrad and CSA Director of Cricket Enoch Nkwe,
The board’s first goal is getting enough time to prepare for the WTC final.
“Our players would return on the 26th, as per our original arrangement with the IPL-BCCI, because the final was scheduled for the 25th. This would give them enough time before our flight on the 30th. That’s what the cricket director [Nkwe] and Pholetsi [Moselki, the CSA chief executive], who are at a higher pay grade than me, are saying to each other. That’s what they’re battling. “We hope that our players return on the 26th,” Conrad stated in Johannesburg following South Africa’s announcement of their WTC final team.
On May 30, Proteas will depart for London.
Among the eight players selected for South Africa’s WTC final squad are Kagiso Rabada (GT), Lungi Ngidi (RCB), Tristan Stubbs (DC), Aiden Markram (LSG), Ryan Rickelton and Corbin Bosch (MI), Marco Jansen (PBKS), and Wiaan Mulder (SRH). Rabada, who finished a one-month suspension in early May, is one of the players who have just returned to IPL action after serving bans or recuperating from injuries.
Teams like GT, MI, RCB, and PBKS are still in the running for the playoffs, while others like SRH and LSG are either already eliminated or very close to doing so. Their South African stars’ ordered withdrawal may have an impact on their playoff plans.
South Africa is scheduled to fly to the UK on May 30 and begin a four-day warm-up game against Zimbabwe in Arundel from June 3. The CSA has named a balanced Test squad, with Temba Bavuma leading, along with a strong pace attack that includes Rabada and Ngidi. Rickelton is set to open, with Stubbs and David Bedingham taking up the middle-order spots.
