Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen and Lungi Ngidi have all been given permission to play at the franchise competition
South Africa's Test players will be fully available for the Indian Premier League after the likes of Kagiso Rabada and Rassie van der Dussen were omitted from the squad to face Bangladesh.
As many as six players who would normally be considered for selection will instead appear at the 10-team franchise competition, which gets underway on March 26.
That group includes the fulcrum of the seam attack, led by Rabada (Punjab Kings), Marco Jansen (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Lungi Ngidi (Delhi Capitals) and Anrich Nortje.
There does remain uncertainty over the fitness of Nortje - retained by Delhi Capitals before the auction - who hasn't bowled a ball in anger since the T20 World Cup in November.
Aiden Markram is also fully available for Sunrisers while Van der Dussen will represent Rajasthan Royals.
Anrich Nortje has been missing since November (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)
Under the terms of the current Memorandum of Understanding with South African Cricketers' Association (SACA) the governing body are not at liberty to refuse their star players the opportunity to play in the league.
“The loss of the IPL players is not ideal, but we back the CSA system, its ever-growing pipeline and most of all, the players we have selected,” said CSA convenor of selectors Victor Mpitsang.
The Proteas are scheduled to face Bangladesh in two Tests starting on March 31 in Durban and April 8 in Port Elizabeth.
Dean Elgar will captain an experimental squad with Khaya Zondo earning his maiden Test call-up. Keegan Petersen is also back in the fold after missing the New Zealand series after testing positive for Covid-19.
Essex's Simon Harmer and Duanne Olivier of Yorkshire are also among the group, confirming they will miss the start of the new County Championship season in England.
Both South Africa and Bangladesh are currently gearing up to square off in three one-day internationals on March 18, 20 and 23.
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