Hours after strictly saying South African players will be back on May 26 from Indian Premier League (IPL 2025) season for preparation for the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) Final on June 11 against Australia in Lord's, Cricket South Africa (CSA) has done a U-turn. It has been announced that the WTC squad players for the final clash can return to training on June 03.
For the unversed, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed that the resumption of the IPL 2025 season will be done on May 17, with the final scheduled on June 03. This decision left the Aussie and Proteas players in bit of quandary due to WTC being just one week ahead of IPL 2025 final. CSA had also earlier given a statement, saying it wanted its players to return on May 26 for preparation for WTC Final.
"It is an individual decision, obviously, to return or to play or continue," CSA's director of national teams and high-performance, Enoch Nkwe said during a press conference.
"One thing we've made clear, and we are finalizing this with the IPL and the BCCI, is sticking to our original plan when it comes to the WTC preparations."
"May 26 is the latest for the Test guys to come back. The original plans don't change because the No. 1 priority is the WTC final. We've been engaging with them over the last day or two to make sure we're all on the same page."
CSA changes mind, WTC selected players will return after IPL culminates
Now, CSA director Nkwe has said that Proteas players selected for the WTC Final can return to training after the IPL final on June 03.
“Correction – the squad will resume training for the game on June 3rd,” he said. “The matter is being discussed higher up than me. At ground level, we are focusing on preps for the WTC final.”
Eight South African players -- Kagiso Rabada (Gujarat Titans), Lungi Ngidi (Royal Challengers Bengaluru), Tristan Stubbs (Delhi Capitals), Aiden Markram (Lucknow Super Giants), Ryan Rickelton (Mumbai Indians), Corbin Bosch (MI), Marco Jansen (Punjab Kings) and Wiaan Mulder (Sunrisers Hyderabad) -- have been named in the South Africa squad for the WTC Final against Australia.
Also read:Â IPL 2025: Mustafizur Rahman's IPL participation in doubt for Delhi Capitals
South Africa's Test match against Zimbabwe is likely to be pushed back
It is to be noted that South Africa were set to play one-off Test match against Zimbabwe on May 26 for preparation fr WTC Final. However, as things stand now, the Proteas Test against their rival nation will be pushed a little as the CSA has said the players will return after June 03.
