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IPL 2012 to clash with West Indies schedule

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The 2012 IPL will be the longest edition of the tournament yet and will clash with a number of international tours, most notably Australia's tour of West Indies in April and West Indies tour of England in May. Pakistan are also scheduled to play international cricket during the event, which will be played from April 4 to May 27, but their players have not been part of the IPL since the inaugural tournament in 2008.

The BCCI approved the dates of the tournament on Friday and West Indies, with their traditional home season falling in March and April, will once again have to find a way of coping without players who want to play in the lucrative Twenty20 league. According to the ICC's Future Tours Programme, West Indies host Australia for three Tests and five ODIs in March and April, before heading to England to play three Tests, three ODIs and a T20I in May and June.

Former West Indies captain Chris Gayle, who starred for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2011 IPL, and allrounders Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo were given No Objection Certificates by the West Indies Cricket Board to play in the tournament this year. Pollard missed the ODI series against Pakistan while Bravo missed the Tests to turn out for their IPL franchises Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. The Gayle situation is further exacerbated because he is involved in a standoff with the board over his decisions to play domestic T20 events around the globe, and has not played for West Indies since the World Cup.

The Australia players who have IPL deals will be free to join the league mid-way, as they did this year after their ODI series against Bangladesh. However, England's players will once again find themselves at odds with the IPL, since the West Indies series starts on May 1. That could discourage franchises from bidding for players from England, should they be part of a player auction next year.

Pakistan are scheduled to welcome Bangladesh in April and May for two Tests and three ODIs, after which they are due to tour Sri Lanka for three Tests, five one-dayers and two T20Is. Pakistan's visit would require Sri Lanka's international players to leave the IPL early, something that became a contentious issue in 2011 for Sri Lanka's tour of England.