The Indian Premier League 2022 (IPL) edition will get underway from 26th March 2022. And, ahead of the Al Classico Indian T20 League, South African Test Captain, Dean Elgar has asked his players not to be part of the IPL 2022.
Elgar said that he received a call from the representative at Cricket South Africa (CSA) regarding the player’s availability for the South Africa series against Bangladesh in April 2022. And, Elgar added that the players have to inform CSA whether they will offer their services for the Country or are willing to be part of the IPL 2022.
“Just this morning I got off a call with the respective personnel at CSA to try and give us a guideline as to whether the players will be available or not,” Elgar told an online press conference on Friday. “The outcome of that meeting is that the players need to give an indication to CSA whether they’re keen to be part of the IPL 2022 or if they love to play for the Test versus Bangladesh for the country,” said Elgar as quoted by Cricbuzz.
Dean Elgar wants to players to clear all the things by next week and also mentioned that this decision from the players will reveal where their loyalty lies. Adding that it was only Test and ODI cricket that got the players to the IPL, Elgar revealed that there will be more clarity on the matter by next week.
“It’s a tough one leaving that up to the players, but this is how we’ll see where their loyalty lies. They mustn’t forget that Test and one-day cricket got them into the IPL, not the other way around. Hopefully, by next week everything will be clearer for us,” added Elgar.
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Elgar also said that players would not like to miss out on a massive tournament like the IPL, and concluded by stating that playing for the country is bigger than playing in the IPL.
Although, as a captain, I (Elgar) will have to sit down and have a chat with the players to be part of the Test and ODI series versus Bangladesh in April 2022. If I am unable to convince them about playing Tests for South Africa, it is out of my hands.
“You don’t want players to miss out on a big occasion like the IPL, by no means. But I’d still like to think playing for your country is bigger than that,” added Elgar.