England captain Jos Buttler thinks that international cricket should not be clashing with Indian Premier League (IPL)
England players picked for the T20I series against Pakistan had to return home, viewing the matches to prepare for the T20 World Cup 2024 and were withdrawn from IPL 2024 playoffs.
Among those who had to leave early were Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Reece Topley, Phil Salt, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, and Buttler.
Although Buttler supported the ECB's decision to recall the players who were part of the T20 World Cup, he also believes that these kinds of confrontations between international cricket and the IPL shouldn't be taking place.
“I said, ‘Look, as an England captain, my main priority is to be playing for England,'” Buttler said.
“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 in 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 added.
Earlier, Sam Curran also backed the ECB’s decision to call the players back. “It was a decision that was made, that it was probably the right thing for us all to come back. It was only fair for all franchise to lose a player each or so. It would have been quite harsh if some franchises got to keep a couple of players and then some didn’t.
“I think Jos, Motty [Matthew Mott] and Keysy [Rob Key] wanted us all back together for this series. It makes great sense, because obviously we want to be playing as a team and get used to our roles. It’s quite hard when you go tournament to tournament, and then straight into a big tournament like [the World Cup] where you haven’t really played together.”
The first match of the four-game T20I series will take place at Headingley, Leeds, on May 22. The subsequent matches will take place in Birmingham on May 25, Cardiff on May 28, and the Oval in London on May 30.
- Jos Buttler