England’s skipper Jos Buttler emphasized that international cricket fixtures should not overlap with the Indian Premier League (IPL). Despite asserting his commitment to playing for England, Buttler pointed out the challenges faced by players due to scheduling conflicts.
Eight prominent English players, including Buttler himself, had to depart from the IPL before the play-offs to participate in a four-match series against Pakistan.
This series is crucial preparation for the T20I World Cup in June. The players who had to leave IPL due to this schedule clash were Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Reece Topley, Phil Salt, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, and Buttler.
Buttler’s remarks highlighted the growing influence of the IPL on the international cricket calendar, “It’s my personal opinion that there shouldn’t be any international cricket that clashes with the IPL.”
“I think that these games have been on the calendar for a long time. Of course, leading into a World Cup, your No.1 priority is playing for England and performing for England. I feel like this is the best preparation.” he concluded.
The early exit of these key players from the IPL has sparked discussions about the need for a more synchronized international cricket calendar. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) faces the challenge of balancing the players’ participation in lucrative domestic leagues with their national team duties.
The England captain’s call for non-overlapping schedules aims to ensure that players can fulfill their commitments without compromising on preparation for critical international tournaments like the T20I World Cup.
Butter also revealed that the ECB decided to call up all the players for the series against Pakistan so that they could get used to their specific rules in the team and by this decision, the IPL franchises lost a foreign player in equal proportion as no English player is playing the competition currently.
England will face off Pakistan in the first match of the four-game T20I series at Headingley, Leeds today while their World Cup campaign will kickstart on June 4 against Scotland.
