Jonny Bairstow, Chris Woakes and Dawid Malan have joined England teammate Jos Buttler in withdrawing from the Indian Premier League, which resumes next week.
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A bulging winter schedule is on the horizon for the quartet, who have been selected in England's provisional squad for the Twenty20 World Cup which begins next month in the United Arab Emirates and they're in contention for Ashes places too.
Rajasthan Royals last month announced Buttler will be absent for the remainder of the IPL, which restarts on September 19 in the UAE after being suspended in May amid a rise in COVID-19 cases in India.
Fellow wicketkeeper-batsman Bairstow, seam-bowling allrounder Woakes and Malan, the world's number one ranked T20 batsman, are understood to have now pulled out as well.
Bairstow is the leading run scorer for Sunrisers Hyderabad but they sit bottom of the standings at the halfway point and seem unlikely to reach the knockout phases while Woakes and Malan have only had bit-part roles with Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings respectively.
Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer are unavailable for the Royals but there could still be 10 English representatives on show with 2019 50-over World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan heading the pack as he skippers Kolkata Knight Riders.
Jason Roy, Adil Rashid, Moeen Ali, Sam and Tom Curran, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Sam Billings, and George Garton are also due to participate in the highly-lucrative T20 competition.
While all England players will fly commercial, Mumbai Indians announced captain Rohit Sharma, fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah and batsman Suryakumar Yadav arrived into Abu Dhabi on a private charter flight on Saturday morning.
The trio could have been involved in India's fifth and final Test against England at Old Trafford, which was dramatically called off on Friday due to COVID-19 concerns in the tourists' camp, just a couple of hours before play was due to begin.
Australian Associated Press
