By IANS
New Delhi : Despite the postponement of Australia’s tour to Pakistan, it is still not very clear if their cricketers will participate in the Indian Premier League (IPL) this year.
The postponement may have opened a wider window for the Australian cricketers signed up for the IPL. This is subject to Cricket Australia allowing the players to travel to India instead of using this period to have a short camp before Australia’s Tour to the West Indies.
Some in Australia believe their players need to focus on the series against West Indies and the travel to India for IPL might tire them even before the start of the series in the Caribbean.
The Australians were initially not available because of the Pakistan tour, but now with the West Indies tour set to begin only on May 16 and the first Test starting on May 22, there will be some time for the players to come to India for IPL.
In Australia, Cricket Australia’s chief executive James Sutherland was quoted as saying: “The Indian Premier League is due to commence on April 18. The Australian team is due to arrive in the West Indies for a tour in early May. So there is a small window of opportunity there for players to perhaps play in IPL.”
Cricket Australia will decide on the release of the players after a meeting with their coaching staff and the players.
The key Australians who will figure in the Tests and have signed up for the IPL are Ricky Ponting, Andrew Symonds, Matthew Hayden, Brett Lee and Michael Hussey.
One-day specialists like Nathan Bracken, the man of the series in the Commonwealth Bank Tri-series, might get a longer stay at the IPL since the one-dayers in the West Indies will start in mid-June.