England players involved in the IPL likely to miss the first Test against New Zealand

The United Kingdom (UK) has put in a new 10-day quarantine rule for all those people who have residential rights in the UK but enter the UK from the ‘red list’ countries. Since India is on the red list due to an unprecedented surge in Covid-19 cases, all those who enter the UK from India and have residential rights will have to mandatorily serve this 10-day period.

And, this will surely come as a jolt for the England side, as some of their Test match regulars are in India and plying their trade in the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The IPL will end on May 30th, and the first Test between England and New Zealand will commence on June 2nd.

And, if we take into consideration that the last IPL league match will finish on 23rd May 2021, and even if some of the teams where the England players are involved with do not qualify for the playoffs stage of the IPL, still the England cricketers might not have sufficient time to take the field for the first Test between England and New Zealand.

The players who are involved in the IPL, and also form a part of the England Test side are Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes.

New Zealand will miss a few regulars too

The New Zealand side is also likely to miss some of their Test stalwarts who are also involved in the high-profile IPL. The likes of Trent Boult, Kane Williamson, Kyle Jamieson, and Jimmy Neesham are plying their trade in the 2021 IPL edition with different teams.

England and New Zealand are scheduled to play a short two-match Test series in June. While the first Test will take place in London on 2nd June 2021, the second rubber between these two sides will take place at Birmingham on June 10th.

This Test series will be followed by the hugely anticipated final of the World Test Championship (WTC) between New Zealand and India. The summit clash of the WTC is scheduled to take place on 18th June 2021 at Southampton.