Pat Cummins Unlikely To Return For Second Half Of IPL 2021 In UAE

Kolkata Knight Riders(KKR) has dealt a huge blow as they are likely to be missing the services of star Australian Pat Cummins in the second half of IPL 2021 which will be held in UAE during September-October. 

According to a report in Sydney Morning Herald, Cummins has made it clear that he would not be returning for the remaining matches of the IPL. 

"David Warner and Pat Cummins could be rested from the West Indies tour because of family reasons - others could follow after a draining year in several bubbles - and Cummins, despite a multimillion-dollar IPL contract, has already said he will not return to the T20 tournament this season," stated the report.

Earlier, Ashley Giles, the managing director of the England men's team, had also said that the England and Wales Cricket (ECB) are not planning to change their schedule for the IPL 2021.

"We are going to have to give some of these guys a break at some point. But the intention of giving guys a break for, say, Bangladesh, wouldn't be for them to go and play cricket elsewhere," ESPNcricinfo quoted Giles as saying.

"We have to manage our schedule now, so we get our guys arriving in the best shape possible for the T20 World Cup and the Ashes," he added.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday announced that it will complete the remaining matches of the IPL 2021 season in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after a unanimous decision among the members in a Special General Meeting(SGM). 

In an official release, the board said that the decision to move the tournament to UAE has been taken considering the "monsoon season" in India in the months of September-October.

The suspended 14th edition of the IPL is likely to be played in UAE in the September 15 to October 15 window which will end right before the start of the T20 World Cup, whose decision on the hosting venue is yet to be taken by the BCCI and ICC.