They have left the IPL en masse, the England players. Jos Buttler, England’s white-ball captain, wanted to prepare for the upcoming T20 World Cup by playing a home series against Pakistan and asked the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to ensure all the players were available. Accordingly, eight England players have left the IPL, with the tournament entering its final stretch.
So, Rajasthan Royals will miss their talisman, Buttler, in the playoffs. Kolkata Knight Riders will be without their opener Phil Salt. In a win-or-bust game against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will not have the services of Will Jacks and Reece Topley. And CSK will have to make do in the absence of Moeen Ali.
The franchises have replacements. Afghanistan’s Rahmanullah Gurbaz will likely come in for Salt. Then again, over the course of this IPL, Salt and Sunil Narine had formed the tournament’s most prolific opening pair, with six 50-plus partnerships. “Look at how they have been gelling as a pair,” KKR mentor Gautam Gambhir had said a couple of weeks ago. Gurbaz is a fine cricketer, but it's not easy to straightaway form a partnership. KKR, going great guns, might miss Salt in the knockouts.
For Royals, Buttler is irreplaceable, for he can single-handedly win a match, like he did against KKR at Eden Gardens. RCB will miss Jacks’ impact batting, someone who has scored 230 runs in eight matches at a strike-rate of 175.57.
Country versus club is a longstanding debate in sport and Buttler & Co have good enough logic in choosing England over the IPL, with the T20 World Cup round the corner. Then again, the IPL franchises pay big money for their players and missing out on them at the business end of the tournament is a loss.
No wonder that some former players have hit out at the trend of leaving the IPL midway. Sunil Gavaskar has even called for the players to be penalised for not playing the full season.
“I am all for players choosing country before anything else, but having assured various franchises about their availability for the full season, it will be letting down the franchises if they pull out now,” the legendary former India captain wrote in his column.
“The franchises should not only be allowed to deduct a substantial amount from the fee that the player was bought for, but also not give the Board, to which the player belongs, the stated 10 per cent commission of the fee that each player gets.”
Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan, too, has waded into the debate, posting on his X handle: “Either be available for full season or don't come!”
The England-Pakistan T20I series commences on May 22, a day after the Qualifier 1 in the IPL.
In exclusive arrangement with RevSportz
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