South Africa's squad for ODI series against Bangladesh includes eight IPL-bound players

There has been a lot of debate in the recent past over the Indian Premier League-bound South African players needing to decide between playing the Test series against Bangladesh or being available for their franchises at the IPL. However, for now, the players have been named in the squad for the preceding three-match ODI series against the same opposition to be played at home.

South Africa have named a full-strength squad for the ODI series scheduled to be played between March 18th to 23rd. However, Anrich Nortje and Sisanda Magala will not feature due to their respective injury concerns. Notably, the series concludes just three days before the IPL, with the players likely to miss the first few games of the mega tournament.

The eight players named in the squad who are also to feature at the 15th edition of the IPL are Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Quinton de Kock, Aiden Markram, Dwaine Pretorius, and Marco Jansen.

The South Africa-Bangladesh series is to be played in a more ‘relaxed bio-bubble’ that allows players to go outdoors, thus, it could be interesting to see how the IPL bio bubble regulations work around it when the players eventually arrive for the tournament.

Bangladesh Test series to pose a dilemma for IPL-bound South African players

The ODI series however was not the major concern due to it concluding before the T20 tournament. It is the Test series that follows which is certain to pose some uncomfortable conundrum for these South African players.

The two-match series runs from March 31 to April 12. As per a previous statement by Cricket South Africa (CSA), the decision of whether or not they want to leave early for the IPL by skipping the Test series lies with the players themselves. However, it might not be as straightforward a decision to take with Test captain, Dean Elgar, recently hinting at what he would expect of his players by saying the decision would show “where player’s loyalty lies”.

South Africa squad: Temba Bavuma (captain), Keshav Maharaj (vice-captain), Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Zubayr Hamza, Marco Jansen, Janneman Malan, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Wayne Parnell, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne