Relief for IPL franchises; South Africa makes U-turn, to start WTC prep on June 3 after ‘higher up than me’ discussions

In a relief for all the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises, Cricket South Africa (CSA) made a U-turn on Thursday as the Proteas confirmed to start preparation for their maiden World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia only on June 3.

The South African stars along with other overseas players headed back home after the IPL 2025 was stalled for a week following the now de-escalated India-Pakistan conflict.

With the IPL 2025 resuming on May 17 and ending on June 3, CSA initially made it clear that all the Proteas stars will have to return by May 26 to start their preparations for WTC final.

“One thing we’ve made clear, and we are finalising it with the IPL and the BCCI, is that we are sticking to our original plan when it comes to WTC preparations with May 26 being the latest for the Test guys to come back,” CSA’s director of cricket Enoch Nkwe had said, as quoted by The Age.

However, a few hours later, Nkwe informed that after discussion between BCCI, CSA and IPL franchises, it has been decided that South African will begin their WTC preparations from June 3.

"Correction – the squad will resume training for the game on June 3rd. The matter is being discussed higher up than me. At ground level, we are focusing on preps for the WTC final,” he said.

South African players who are part of both IPL & WTC final

As many as 20 South African players are a part of IPL 2025. Out of them, eight have been named in the squad for the WTC final against Australia, beginning on June 11 at Lord's.

Corbin Bosch, Ryan Rickelton (both Mumbai Indians), Wiaan Moulder (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Marco Jansen (Punjab Kings), Aiden Markram (Lucknow SuperGiants), Lungi Ngidi (Royal Challengers Bengaluru), Kagiso Rabada (Gujarat Titans), and Tristan Stubbs (Delhi Capitals) are the eight players who are in the squad for the WTC final.

As per CSA's preparations for WTC final, South Africa squad will reach the United Kingdom on May 31 and will play a warm-up game against Zimbabwe in Arundel from June 3 - 6.

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