Former India opener Aakash Chopra feels that the choice of picking between the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League and national duty is a “very difficult question” for the South African players, who are scheduled to play three ODIs on March 18, 20 and 23 followed by a two-Test series that runs between March 31 and April 12 against Bangladesh.

Given the bio-bubble protocols, any player entering the IPL bubble needs to mandatorily serve a three-day quarantine and RT-PCR tests before being allowed to join their squad. Therefore, any of South Africa’s IPL-bound players choosing to play the Bangladesh series can, even at the earliest, join their team on April 16.



As it stands, Cricket South Africa (CSA) have left it to players to make their choice and pick either playing Bangladesh series or joining their teams at the IPL, which starts from March 26 and will conclude on May 29.

“South Africa have said that they will tell the players that they have the option, let’s test your loyalty to the nation. Very difficult question to address because the ODI series will start on March 18, the IPL is starting on March 26 and there is a three-day quarantine before that,” Chopra weighed on the matter on his YouTube channel.

“The three ODIs are on March 18, 20 and 23. Quinton de Kock is an important member here, so he might not be available for the first match. Lucknow Super Giants – think about it, unless he decides to miss those ODIs,” he added.

In all, there are nearly a dozen players from South Africa who are a part of the 2022 IPL, including the likes of red-ball mainstays Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje and youngster Marco Jansen, as well as white-ball regulars Quinton de Kock, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller and Dwaine Pretorious.

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In the event of any of the players choosing the IPL over their national assignment, Sout.