The Hundred can potentially suffer yet another blow as the Australian players like David Warner, Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Finch and Jhye Richardson might pull out of the tournament.
According to a report in UK’s Daily Mail, the Australian Cricket Board wants the players to be fresh and injury-free considering the amount of fixtures lined up for the Aussie side in the coming months.
The Hundred which is slated to begin on July 22 will already miss out on having the England players in the initial phase as the Test series between the English team and India is scheduled to begin on August 4.
"The realities of Covid mean there remain practicalities that are difficult for some overseas players to overcome," a spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo earlier.
Warner, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa, Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Finch, Jhye Richardson and D’Arcy Short are the part of the squad that will fly to the West Indies. Australia will commence the fixtures against the Caribbean team on July 9.
The tournament had to begin last year but the COVID-19 outburst forced the ECB to postpone it. While the men’s edition begins on July 22, the women’s edition of the tournament will start on July 21.
Four Indian women’s players Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodriguez, Deepti Sharma and Harmanpreet Kaur have been granted NoCs from the BCCI to participate in the competition.