The Indian Premier League (IPL) is set to get underway in Ahmedabad with a clash between defending champions Gujarat Titans and MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings on March 31. However, in what will prove to be bad news for some of the top IPL teams, the South African players will be not be available for the first few days of the tournament.


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The South Africans missing the tournament will till April 3 will include newly-appointed Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Aiden Markram, GT star batter David Miller and Delhi Capitals pacers Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi among others, according to ESPNCricinfo website.


According to the report, Cricket South Africa (CSA) informed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that it wants all of its big performers to be available for the two-match home ODI series against the Netherlands that gets underway in late March. South Africa must defeat the Netherlands in the series in order to directly qualify for the 2023 ODI World Cup, which will take place later this year in India, and the CSA has taken this action.



The Netherlands this week unveiled a potent lineup for the ODIs in South Africa and the series in Zimbabwe. The South African teams are slated to play on March 31 and April 2 in Benoni and Johannesburg, respectively, in both of those ODI Super League series.


Sunrisers Hyderabad (Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, Marco Jansen), Delhi Capitals (Nortje, Lungi Ngidi), Mumbai Indians (Tristan Stubbs, possibly Dewald Brevis), defending champions Gujarat Titans (Miller), Lucknow Super Giants (Quinton de Kock), Punjab Kings (Rabada) have South Africa players in the side.


“The top eight teams in the ODI Super League automatically qualify for the 2023 World Cup while the bottom five will have to play the World Cup Qualifiers along with five Associate teams. South Africa, currently at No. 9, are in a race along with West Indies, Sri Lanka and Ireland to book a direct World Cup entry. The BCCI understands the importance of the Netherlands series to us automatically qualifying for the 2023 World Cup,” CSA’s chief executive officer Pholetsi Moseki told ESPNcricinfo.


The SRH team management may need to look at Bhuvneshwar Kumar as the stop-gap captain once again till Markram is able to join the team. Bhuvi had led the side in IPL 2022 as well as former skipper Kane Williamson had joined the side late in the tournament.


Hardik Pandya’s GT will miss the services of Miller, who was instrumental in their title-winning run in IPL 2022. Miller scored 481 runs at an excellent average of 68.71 at a strike-rate of 142.73 with a top-score of 94 not out last year.


(With ANI inputs)