CWI confirms availability of all West Indies players for IPL 2022

A day after the conclusion of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 mega auction, Cricket West Indies (CWI) has confirmed the availability of all Caribbean players for the upcoming season. It must be noted that several West Indies players have bagged massive deals from different IPL teams. However, there were some question marks regarding the availability of all players for the two-month-long tournament.

Addressing the issue, CWI said it has guaranteed a special window for the lucrative competition and declared that all the West Indies players will be available. Meanwhile, the 15th edition of the gala tournament is expected to get underway in the last week of March and conclude in May end.

CWI has allocated a window for IPL

“The CWI has allocated a window for the tournament each year in their ICC FTP and also guaranteed this to the players in their retainer contracts, therefore West Indies players are fully available to participate in the IPL each year. The IPL 2022 is slated to be played in April and May,” the board said in a statement on Monday (February 14).

Meanwhile 14 West Indies players including the likes of Nicholas Pooran and Jason Holder bagged deals in this season’s auction. At the same time, three Caribbean cricketers – Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine – were retained by their respective franchises. Hence, West Indies have the largest number of foreign players in the competition from any territory outside of India.

Meanwhile, CWI president Ricky Skerritt hailed IPL as the biggest league in the world while congratulating the players. “I want to congratulate all of the West Indies players who have secured contracts to the various franchises in the IPL, which is the biggest and most lucrative global T20 franchise tournament. But I especially want to applaud those younger players who received their first full IPL contracts,” said the CWI boss.

“This shows great faith in emerging West Indies talent. I continue to believe that our players can seek quality employment abroad, and still be positioned to operate constructively and successfully within the West Indies cricket system,” he added.