Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma announced that players who are not part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 playoffs could leave for the UK earlier than others to begin preparation for the World Test Championship Final. India will face Australia in the summit clash at The Oval on June 7, and with the IPL season running until May 28, there is a scheduling conflict.
I don't think it will be a huge problem but yeah, look I believe in preparation and preparations will be key for us come the finals. Around 21st May, there will be six teams who will possibly be out of IPL playoffs contention and so whichever players are available, we will try and find time to get them to the UK early as possible and get some time and we will monitor as much as possible," Rohit said.
"Look, I think it's quite critical for us, we're going to keep in constant touch with all players who are going to play that final and monitor their workload and see what's happening with them," Rohit said. "In fact we are sending some Dukes Balls to all fast bowlers and see if they get some time to bowl with that, but again it all depends on individuals, guys who will be part of finals are not the guys who have not played in UK and may be one or two guys here and there and rest all of us have played in that part of the world."
The IPL league stage ends on May 21, which is 16 days before the final, and players from eliminated franchises could be sent to the UK right after that to help them become familiar with the playing conditions. However, Cheteshwar Pujara is the only player who will not be part of the IPL, while the rest of India's potential squad will be involved in the IPL starting from March 31.
