England’s head coach Chris Silverwood has admitted that it is very difficult to tell players not to play Indian Premier League. ECB has decided to grant permission to players for skipping test series against New Zealand in June if their IPL teams reach knockout rounds. Silverwood understands why players would like to be part of IPL.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Silverwood said, “It is very difficult to say to the players that no you can’t play IPL. You can’t say no if you just see the numbers. IPL is a marquee cricket event in the T20 world and so it’s very difficult.”
After ECB stopping players from taking part in IPL during early years of its existence, the English players have now started playing a huge role in the IPL. For 2021 season, various popular England’s players such as – Dawid Malan, Jason Roy, Sam Billings, Moeen Ali, and Alex Hales are up for grabs during the auction.
Silverwood in the press conference backed the idea of playing in the leagues, “I don’t think it’s an issue because players are playing a fantastic high level of T20 cricket which can only benefit us really. Moving forward it benefits the player. They go in but we benefit from their playing.”
The head coach also gave some clarity on the player’s availability for the entire season of the tournament. He said if star players won’t be available for the New Zealand series, then other players will be getting the opportunity to play against Kiwis.
Some English players have decided against participating in IPL this year. Joe Root is eager to part of the tournament in the future as he opted against submitting his name for auction. Late on Wednesday, Mark Wood pulled out of the T20 competition at the last minute. The workload of English players needs managing this year due to number of bilateral series and tournament.