IPL 2021: Jonny Bairstow, Chris Woakes and Dawid Malan opt out of the 2nd leg

In what could be a major blow to several IPL franchises, England stars Jonny Bairstow, Chris Woakes and Dawid Malan have reportedly pulled out of the rescheduled 2nd leg of the cash-rich league.

Phase 2 of the 14th season of the IPL will take place in the United Arab Emirates between September 19-October15. The IPL-bound English players will be traveling with Indian cricketers from the United Kingdom soon but it seems like Bairstow, Woakes and Malan will not be a part of the contingent.

Bairstow is an integral part of the SunRisers Hyderabad at the top of the order while Chris Woakes and Dawid Malan are part of Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings respectively.

If reports of the trio not traveling to the UAE for IPL 2021 turn out to be true, then they will join compatriots Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer who have pulled out of the 14th season.

India pulling out of 5th Test a reason behind Bairstow, Woakes and Malan snubbing the IPL?

Reports of Bairstow, Malan and Woakes pulling out of the 2nd phase of IPL 2021 come hot on the heels of the cancelation of the fifth and final Test between India and England at Old Trafford in Manchester.

The 5th Test was supposed to take place between September 10-14 but was eventually canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak in the Indian camp.

After head coach Ravi Shastri, bowling coach Bharat Arun, fielding coach R. Sridhar and physio Nitin Patel tested positive. Junior physio Yogesh Parmar also returned positive for COVID-19 on the eve of the Old Trafford Test.

That left the Indian team with a physio and with a plethora of players being in close contact with Parmar, the cricketers were reportedly in a deep state of anxiety. The players returned negative tests but by then, the fear and anxiety of possibly testing positive after the incubation period had already set in. T

The Test match was ultimately canceled a few hours before the scheduled start of play. If reports in ‘The Sun’ are to be believed, the feeling in the English camp is that the Indian players were responsible for the outbreak.

According to the report, some members of the home team claim they saw Indian players roaming around in Manchester on Thursday when they were supposed to stay locked up in hotel rooms.

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It added that at least five players, including Bairstow, Woakes, Ali, Malan and Curran, were considering pulling out from the 2nd leg of the 14th season of the IPL.