IPL 2022: Here are the player availabilities for the upcoming season

The IPL 2022 gets underway with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) locking horns with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on March 26. This year’s Indian Premier League will be a 10-team affair with the introduction of two new franchises – Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans, respectively.

Ahead of the 15th edition of the marquee tournament, a few players withdrew citing personal reasons. While a few of them are set to miss the initial games due to national commitments, the rest of them have made themselves available for the entire tournament. Without further ado, here’s a look at those players.

IPL 2022: Confirmed availability for this season

Mumbai Indians

Rohit Sharma will be leading the Mumbai Indians this season. The franchise made some smart buys this season, including England pacer Jofra Archer with the long-term future in mind as he would be impactful working in tandem with pace spearhead, Jasprit Bumrah, going forward.

The only concern that the five-time winners have is regarding their middle-order specialist Suryakumar Yadav, who is expected to miss the opening game against the Delhi Capitals, as he is still in rehab at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) due to a hairline thumb fracture that he had suffered last month.

Nonetheless, it has been, reportedly, confirmed that Yadav will be available for the rest of the tournament. He was one of MI’s mandatory retentions for this season. The rest of the players are available for the entire season.

Chennai Super Kings

Ravindra Jadeja has been named the Chennai Super Kings’ new captain, as he succeeds the legendary MS Dhoni and looks to take the glorious legacy of the franchise forward.

The only concern they have, as of now, is that of bowling all-rounder Deepak Chahar’s unavailability for a few matches due to a quadriceps injury. Chahar, who has been bought by the defending champions for a staggering INR 14 crore, is reportedly set to be out of action till mid-April.

CSK can heave a sigh of relief though, as Deepak Chahar will be back to take the field for them this season. The rest of the players are available for the entire season.

 Kolkata Knight Riders

Kolkata Knight Riders have roped in Australia limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch, as England opener Alex Hales’ replacement. However, Finch will only be joining the franchise on April 5 as he will be leading the Aussies in the white-ball leg of the ongoing Pakistan tour.

The 2021 T20 World Cup-winning captain will be available for the entire season thereafter. Senior New Zealand pacer Tim Southee will be available for the league phase, but would miss the knockouts in case the two-time champions qualify.

This is because New Zealand will be competing against England in a three-match Test series, starting June 2. The rest of the players are available for the entire season.

Royal Challengers Bangalore

The Royal Challengers Bangalore will also be in a spot of bother during their initial games with a few players missing out due to certain reasons.

Australian pacers – Josh Hazlewood and Jason Behrendorff – will not be participating till April 5 as per CA’s central contracts, while their teammate Glenn Maxwell has taken some time off after having tied the knot recently.

The trio will be back, and make themselves available for the rest of the competition. The rest of the players are available for the entire season.

Sunrisers Hyderabad

The Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will be missing some of their overseas recruits for a while, but they all will be available for the rest of the tournament.

Australian pacer Sean Abbot will not be available till April 5, whereas the South African duo of batter Aiden Markram and pacer Marco Jansen, will miss the first match against the Rajasthan Royals as they are playing the ongoing ODI series against Bangladesh at home.

The Proteas players, however, have decided to skip the succeeding Test series in order to make themselves available for the upcoming tournament. The rest of the players are available for the entire season.

Punjab Kings

As far as availability is concerned, the Punjab Kings (PBKS) have short-term and long-term concerns this season with regards to two of their foreign players.

Kagiso Rabada, who is featuring in the home ODI series against Bangladesh, will only be available after PBKS’ opening fixture. Meanwhile, Jonny Bairstow could miss the knockouts as England and New Zealand will be playing a three-match Test series, starting June 2. Bairstow could also miss the first couple of games as England play West Indies in the third Test till March 28.

Apart from these two, the rest of the players are available for the entire season.

Rajasthan Royals

Rajasthan Royals are the only team who, as of now, have no worries with regards to their player availability for the upcoming season. However, it remains to be seen whether their star player Rassie van der Dussen can himself be available for the first match.

The T20I specialist was part of South Africa’s ODI series against Bangladesh, and he should just make it for the Royals’ opening game against SRH on the evening of March 29. The rest of the players are available for the entire season.

Delhi Capitals

While none of the players have been completely ruled out of the tournament from Delhi’s side, some of their key overseas players will be missing the initial matches. South African pacer Anrich Nortje is, reportedly, dealing with hip and back issues and could be warming the bench for a while.

Meanwhile, dynamic Aussie opener David Warner will only play after April 5, while Bangladesh speedster Mustafizur Rahman and his Proteas counterpart Lungi Ngidi, who were a part of the just-concluded South Africa-Bangladesh ODI series, are expected to miss DC’s first match against MI.

The rest of the players are available for the entire season.

Lucknow Super Giants

The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have sorted out their biggest issue by replacing England pacer Mark Wood with his Australian counterpart Andrew Tye. However, even they have some issues to sort out as well, as the tournament nears.

Star Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis will only be available after the first-three games, as he is in Pakistan for the white-ball leg. The West Indies duo of all-rounder Jason Holder and Kyle Mayers will only be able to participate after the third Test against England that ends on March 28.

The rest of the players are available for the entire season.

Gujarat Titans

Just like LSG, even the Gujarat Titans have sorted out one of their major issues by signing Afghanistan wicketkeeper-batter, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, as a replacement option for Jason Roy.

They only have one temporary issue for now and that is regarding West Indies pacer Alzarri Joseph. Joseph will only be available after the ongoing third and final Test against England. The rest of the players are available for the entire season.