CSA has confirmed that there will be no change in the plans of South African players returning to their country by 27th May & not take part in playoffs ahead of the ICC WTC 2023-25 final. There are a total 8 Proteas players: Kagiso Rabada (GT), Lungi Ngidi (RCB), Marco Jansen (PBKS), Aiden Markram (LSG), Tristan Stubbs (DC), Ryan Rickelton & Corbin Bosch (MI) & Wiaan Mulder (SRH) named in ICC WTC 2023-25 final squad.
The play-offs are set to begin on 29th May the dates are not yet revealed. In a major development, it’s a huge set-back to all the franchises except SRH who are officially out of the race of playoffs. BCCI has allowed all the franchises to name temporary replacements but replacing players for crunch matches & expecting them to win matches immediately can be very risky.
Commendable stance by South Africa cricket
The franchises undoubtedly would be unhappy after the players not taking part in playoffs. If we look at South Africa’s stance, then they are somewhat right. Proteas are scheduled to leave for UK on 30th May and play a 4 day match against Zimbabwe on June 3. Due to the unexpected abandonment, IPL final is on 3rd June and it would have most likely taken a physical as well as mental toll on South African cricketers to switch from white ball to red ball cricket in a flash.
South Africa had to work extremely hard to go through the final of WTC 2023-25. The Temba Bavuma side played only a handful of 12 Test matches and qualified for the final by winning 8 matches which most probably isn’t an easy task to do. The final of WTC 2023-25 final is slated to take place at Lord’s on 11th June against Aussies who are the defending champions of the mace.
Concerns for IPL teams
PBKS’ Marco Jansen has taken 11 wickets in tournament as his non-availability can hurt the side. MI’s Ryan Rickelton has amaased 336 runs in 12 innings and he along with Will Jacks have been pivotal at the top of order. MI particularly have to win last 2 games to qualify for playoffs to give themselves the best chance. In all this chaos, GT would be very less affected given they had won matches without him during the initial stages of tournament.
🚨IPL POINTS TABLE UPDATE 🚨
Gujarat Titans with no 1 position
2-RCB
3-PBKS
4-Mumbai IndiansIPL2025 RETURNS WITH RCBVSKKR MATCH🥶⭐#IPL2025 #ipl2025update #IPLpointsTable pic.twitter.com/DewTVGWI0q
— Faruk🐦 (@uf2151593) May 14, 2025
Also Read: GT vs DC: Kagiso Rabada Unavailability Update- Gujarat Titans Await Star Pacer’s Return