The second leg of the Indian Premier League is all set to commence from September 19 in the UAE. The participation of many players is doubtful ahead of the marquee event owing to the Covid-19 protocols, national duties, rest concerns, and the preparation of the T20 World Cup. However, New Zealand players will be available for the remainder of the IPL 2021.New Zealand is expected to tour Pakistan in the September-October window which had made their participation in the IPL doubtful. However, New Zealand Cricket chief David White confirmed the participation of the New Zealand players despite their white-ball series against Pakistan during the same window.
“New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson, Trent Boult, James Neesham, and Lockie Ferguson will feature in the second phase of the IPL 2021 in the UAE instead of the Pakistan series,” David White was quoted by GeoTV. With the T20 World Cup slated to start on October 17, England and Bangladesh have already barred players from taking part in the IPL 2021 while Cricket Australia is also mulling over pulling out their players for the cash rich league. The 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL) season, which was suspended earlier this year because of the Covid-19 second wave, will resume with a clash between the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI) on September 19. The first match of the remainder of the season will be played in Dubai. The 31 remaining matches will be played at three venues — Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah — with Dubai set to host the final on October 15. While Dubai will host the first qualifier on October 10, the eliminator and second qualifier will be played in Sharjah on October 11 and 13 respectively. In all, 13 matches will be held in Dubai, 10 in Sharjah and 8 in Abu Dhabi.
