IPL dates clash with West Indies series against Australia and England

Many West Indies international stars will have to make a huge decision next year during the Indian Premier League (IPL) with the schedule of their national cricket matches clashing with the rewarding IPL T20 tournament.

Many West Indies international stars will have to make a huge decision next year during the Indian Premier League (IPL) with the schedule of their national cricket matches clashing with the rewarding IPL T20 tournament.

The 5th edition of the Indian Premier League will be the longest held so far, starting on April 4 and ending on May 27.

The dates of IPL V clashes with Australia’s tour of West Indies and then the West Indies trip to England.

The West Indies players will have to miss whole of the IPL if they chose to represent their nation and not their IPL teams.

Australia play 3 Tests and 5 One Day Internationals against West Indies between March 14 and April 23, and then the Caribbean side will tour England to play in three Tests, three ODIs and one T20 international from May 1 to June 20.

Big stars in IPL - Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard and all-rounder Dwayne Bravo requested No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to compete in the IPL for their respective sides. As a result, they were not available to play for West Indies against the touring Pakistan team and created a huge Country vs Club debate.

Gayle who was bought as a replacement player was the Man of the Series representing the Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Pollard was a key player for Mumbai Indians with Dwayne Bravo playing for eventual champions Chennai Super Kings in IPL 4. All three are expected to feature again in next year's tournament.

IPL Governing Council has decided that there will be just 9 teams participating in the lucrative T20 tournament this year with no room for Kochi Tuskers to come-back into their plans for this season.