IPL 2021: NZC to grant NOCs, players to be available for full season

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) will be granting No-Objection Certificates to its players for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Along with granting NOCs, it has also been confirmed that the Kiwis would be available for the entire edition of the IPL.

New Zealand Cricket spokesperson Richard Boock confirmed to ANI via email that the board would be granting NOCs and the Kiwis would be available for the entire edition of the IPL.

"Yes, the NOCs would be given and the cricketers would be available for the entire edition," said Boock.

As per some media reports, it was being said that the Kiwis would miss the playoffs stage of the IPL as New Zealand is set to play two-match Test series against England in June this year. However, this clarification from Boock has put an end to all rumours.

IPL 2021 is set to be played from April this year. The BCCI would be looking to have fans in attendance for the premier T20 tournament and BCCI president Sourav Ganguly revealed that the decision regarding fans would be taken very soon.

"This year is going to be big as well because of what it is. We'll see whether we can get the crowd back into the IPL, it's a decision we'll have to take very shortly. But it's going to be another great tournament," Ganguly told Star Sports.

Before the tournament, a mini-auction will be held in Chennai on February 18 and it will see 292 players going under the hammer. Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Alex Hales, Shakib Al Hasan, and Moeen Ali are some of the players who have registered for this year's auction.

A total of 164 Indian players, 125 overseas players, and 3 players from associate nations will be up for grabs in the mini-auction.

Rs 2 crore is the highest reserve price and two Indian players - Harbhajan Singh and Kedar Jadhav - and eight overseas players - Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Shakib Al Hasan, Moeen Ali, Sam Billings, Liam Plunkett, Jason Roy, and Mark Wood have chosen to be slotted in the highest bracket.

12 players are on the auction list with a base price of Rs 1.5 crore. Hanuma Vihari and Umesh Yadav are the two Indian players in the list of 11 cricketers with a base price of Rs 1 crore.

(ANI)

Also Read: IPL 2021 Auction: RCB set to do heavy lifting, CSK look to find stop-gap arrangements