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After the IPL 2022 Mega Auction got concluded on 13 February, the countdown for the start of the tournament has already started. It is all set to start by the last week of March. Although all ten teams did everything in their capacity to pick players who will be available for them for the whole season, some franchises are set to miss the services of a few of their players in the early stage of the tournament. For now, Royal Challengers Bangalore's one of the retentions, Glenn Maxwell is all set to miss the first few games due to his wedding.
The Australian cricketer announced his wedding dates a few days ago and it is all set to clash with the expected starting date for the tournament. Maxwell will be getting married to his Indian fiancée Vini Raman on 27 March and is expected to remain busy for the next few days as well. Maxwell will also miss the ODIs against Pakistan if he is included in the squad.
While talking to Fox Sports Australia, Maxwell revealed that he consulted with Cricket Australia before deciding his wedding dates and agreed to organize it in the two-week gap. But later as the schedule for the Pakistan tour was announced, Maxwell had to make himself unavailable for selection for Tests. CA is yet to announce the squad for the three ODIs and only T20I, but if Maxwell gets included, he will be in a big dilemma.
“Originally when I organized the dates with CA there was a two-week gap where I could potentially have it, so when I sorted that out I was pretty happy I wasn’t going to be missing any series,” Maxwell was quoted saying by Fox sports. “Then it came to the contract meeting midway through last year and (CA) said this is the Pakistan series and I said, ‘well that’s obviously changed since the last conversation we had... But happy wife, happy life," he added.
A few more players can miss first few games of IPL 2022
Apart from Maxwell, there are a few more players who can miss the first few matches of the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Marsh, and David Warner are the players who have been included in the Test squad and may also be included in the white-ball squad. All these players have signed a contract with IPL franchises as well.
Notably, the three ODIs are scheduled for March 29, March 21, and April 2 while the only T20I is all set to be played on April 5.