The IPL mega auction is scheduled on February 12 and 13 in Bangalore. The final auction list includes a total of 590 players. Among the shortlisted players, 47 are from Australia while 24 belong to England.
Meanwhile Cricket Australia’s announcement to tour Pakistan in the month of March-April. Regarding this tour, the availability of Australian players is a big question ahead of the auction. The Indian Premier League 2022 is scheduled to begin in the last week of March and at that time the Australian players will be engaged in national duties in Pakistan, which rules them out of the first few IPL games.
Australian players might miss the first 4-5 games of the marquee Indian Premier League. As per report by Cricbuzz, there is a uncertainty over availability of England and Australia players. England players could be pulled back in the last week of May. Also, some of the Australian players might be missing if they will be selected for Australia’s tour to Pakistan from March 29 to April 5.
Australia haven’t announced their squad for the tour yet but a strong team is expected to land in Pakistan. “I think we’ll get close to a full-strength squad. There is still a little bit of work to do. We have received a lot of information and it has been great. All the pre-tour security and biosecurity work has been done and it’s been fantastic,” Australia Test skipper Pat Cummins said recently.