IPL 2020: Kings XI Punjab CEO opens up on the availability of England and Australia players

Contrary to the statements made by Kolkata Knight Riders CEO Venky Mysore, Kings XI Punjab CEO Satish Menon revealed that there is no clarity over the availability of the England and Australia players for the first few fixtures of the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2020). The two teams are currently involved in a bilateral three-match ODI series against each other in England which is expected to run till September 16.

It was suggested that the players can directly be available for the selection in their respective team’s squad without serving a mandatory six-day quarantine period as they will be travelling from a biosecure bubble of England to the biosecure bubble of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). All these speculations were put to rest by the KKR’s CEO who had confirmed that the players will be available for the selection for their team’s opening matches.

We are hopeful of winning the title this year: Satish Menon

However, the CEO of KL Rahul-led Kings XI Punjab contracted the statements made by Menon saying that the teams are yet to receive any clarity from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in this matter.

The cricket board is yet to decide on the quarantine period for the England and Australia players. The Punjab-based franchise has one Australia batsman and one England pacer namely Glenn Maxwell and Chris Jordan in their squad for 2020 who are completing their national duties in England.

“Nobody has any clarity on that yet. The BCCI is supposed to come back on whether the quarantine can be reduced as they are coming from a bubble to [another] bubble. We don’t have any clarity as yet,” Menon said as quoted by InsideSport.

“From what I hear from the bubble, things are exactly as it was planned. We have been following the SoP that has been laid out by the BCCI and authorities,” he added.

KXIP is yet to claim their maiden IPL title. They finished the 2019 season with 6 wins and 8 losses and ended their campaign with 6th place in the points table. However, Menon is optimistic that the team will be able to end the long wait of 12 seasons this time.

“We are hopeful of winning the title this year. The format is one where anything can happen on a given day, so we will have to see how it goes,” the CEO stated