IPL 2024 likely from March 22 to May end; Hazlewood unavailable for first half of season

IPL 2024 is likely to be played between March 22 and the end of May, with the final schedule to be announced once the polling dates for India's general elections have been finalised by the Election Commission.

On the eve of the 2024 auction, the IPL also notified franchises about the availability of players in the auction for next season:

Josh Hazlewood will be available only from the first week of May if he is bought at the auction. It is understood that he and his wife, Cherina Murphy Christian, are expecting their first child. He was released by RCB and entered the auction with a base price of INR 2 crore (USD 240,000 approx).

All the other Australian players in the auction are expected to be available for the whole IPL season. With the Sheffield Shield final scheduled from March 21 to 25, Cricket Australia has left the choice to the individual players if they have to choose between playing the Shield final and the IPL.

England are scheduled to host Pakistan for a T20I series between May 22 and 30 but the ECB has told the IPL that its players will be available for the whole season "subject to fitness and international duty and any periods of unavailability that players submitted on their auction applications."

The ECB also pointed out that if any players "require specific management in the build-up to the T20 World Cup" its managing director Rob Key would "liaise directly" with both the player and his franchise.

Harry Brook, Phil Salt, Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid are among some of the top England players who have entered the auction. Rehan Ahmed, the 19-year-old legspin allrounder who listed his base price as INR 50 lakh (USD 60,000 approx), has been withdrawn from the auction at short notice, ESPNcricinfo has learned. Rehan will be in India early next year for a five-Test series and the ECB is keen to avoid him spending too much time away from home at a young age.

Sri Lanka Cricket has made all its key white-ball players available for the whole of IPL 2024. This includes Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana, who play for Chennai Super Kings, and Wanindu Hasaranga and Dushmantha Chameera, who are in the auction after being released by RCB and Lucknow Super Giants respectively.

None of those four players will be part of Sri Lanka's Test squad, which is scheduled to play a two-Test series against Bangladesh until April 3. The other Test players who get bought at the auction will be available for the IPL after the series against Bangladesh.

Left-arm seamer Mustafizur Rahman has been permitted by the BCB to play IPL 2024 between March 22 and May 11 if he is bought at the auction. He was released by Delhi Capitals and has listed his base price as INR 2 crore (USD 240,000 approx.). Fast bowlers Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam will not be available for the 2024 season because they are likely to play Bangladesh's home series against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in March and April.

Ireland left-arm fast bowler Josh Little will be available to Gujarat Titans for the whole of the 2024 season and will not play the one-off Test match against Bangladesh from March 22 to 26. He will also miss Ireland's T20I series against Pakistan (May 7-14), and against Netherlands and Scotland (May 19-26).

Afghanistan, New Zealand, South Africa, West Indies and Zimbabwe have made their players fully available for IPL 2024 if they are bought at the auction.