IPL 2021: New Zealand cricketers to be available for the UAE leg, confirms NZC Chief

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) Chief David White has confirmed that all the Kiwi cricketer will be available for the second leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The remaining 31 matches will be played from September 19 in the UAE across three venues in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah with the final set to be played on October 15.

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With New Zealand slated to tour Pakistan in the September-October window, there were doubts over their availability for the IPL. Moreover, the speculations increased after Pakistan requested to add a couple more T20Is to the tour. But the NZC Chief has put all those doubts to rest by confirming that the likes of Kane Williamson and Kyle Jamieson among others will be available for all the matches.

"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," David White was quoted as saying by GeoTV. Kane Williamson (SRH), Adam Milne (MI), Trent Boult (MI), Mitchell Santner (CSK), Lockie Ferguson (KKR), Tim Seifert (KKR), Finn Allen (RCB) and Kyle Jamieson (RCB) are the players who will feature in the IPL 2021 second leg.

Soon after the news broke out, the franchises heaved a sigh of relief as there is not much clarity over the availability of the foreign players from other countries. Meanwhile, BCCI is negotiating with the Cricket Australia and ECB over making their players available while all the West Indies cricketers are available with CPL set to end on September 15 now.

"We are much relieved now. BCCI are in talks with English and Australian boards to come to a consensus regarding this. Given April and May are earmarked for the IPL, they are right to raise their own objections, but we are now confirmed to witness New Zealand players in action," one of the franchise officials said according to Cricket.com.