The extension of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season due to the Indo-Pak conflict has resulted in a big headache for franchises. While the message from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is to get all overseas players back for the resumption of the league, Cricket South Africa has told its players to return home by May 26, as was the initial agreement when the IPL final was to be held on May 25. Though talks are still going on between the two bosses of the boards, CSA is reportedly unwilling to budge on its stance.

The likes of Corbin Bosch (Mumbai Indians), Wiaan Mulder (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Marco Jansen (Punjab Kings), Aiden Markram (Lucknow SuperGiants), Lungi Ngidi (Royal Challengers Bengaluru), Kagiso Rabada (Gujarat Titans), Ryan Rickelton (Mumbai Indians) and Tristan Stubbs (Delhi Capitals) have all been named in the WTC final squad South Africa announced on May 13. 

As per the initial agreement, the BCCI is supposed to release all overseas players on May 26. But, as the per revised schedule, even the league stage of the campaign would not finish before May 27, while the final is on June 03.

“The initial agreement with the IPL and the BCCI was with the final being on the (May) 25th, our players would return on the 26th, so that it allows them ample time before we fly out on the 30th. Nothing has changed from our perspective,” South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad said on Tuesday.

“That is the ongoing conversations that are being had between people in a higher pay grade than I am, i.e. the Director of Cricket (Enoch Nkwe) and Pholetsi Moseki (CSA CEO), so they’re dealing with that. But as it stands, we’re not budging on that, I don’t think. We want our players back on the 26th, and hopefully that comes to fruition,” he added.

“We are still in discussions with IPL & BCCI,” Enoch Nkwe, the CSA director of cricket, told Cricbuzz when asked about the complexity of the situation.

A few IPL franchise, however, might continue to enjoy the services of South African players who aren’t a part of the World Test Championship final against Australia. Those Proteas stars are:

Dewald Brevis (a replacement player in Chennai Super Kings), Faf du Plessis and Donovan Ferreira (Delhi Capitals), Gerald Coetzee (Gujarat Titans), Quinton de Kock and Anrich Nortje (Kolkata Knight Riders), David Miller, Matthew Breetzke (Lucknow Super Giants), Nandre Burger, Kwena Maphaka, Lhuan-dre Pretorius (Rajasthan Royals) and Heinrich Klaasen (SunRisers Hyderabad).

The WTC final-bound players have been asked to assemble in Arundel (a town in England) on 31 May. This is when the selected players will play a warm-up match against Zimbabwe from June 3-6 before heading to London on June 7, with the WTC final set to start on June 11.