Amid the criticism, England’s wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler on Tuesday (March 9) admitted that the lucrative IPL contract can’t be ignored and clarified that the ECB never gave him the option of skipping the popular T20 League to be available for the Test series against New Zealand.
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Buttler has been in the limelight ever since he went home after the first Test against India as part of England’s rotation policy. He is now back in the country for three months to compete in the white-ball series followed by the IPL 2021 participation with Rajasthan Royals.
The English media recently slammed Buttler and a few other cricketers who might have to skip the Test series against New Zealand, starting June 2, if their respective franchises reach the IPL play-offs in last week of May.
“No nothing of that sort (was discussed with me) and I don’t know about other players. I think an agreement about participation in IPL was in place well before the New Zealand Test series was announced,” Buttler said during a media conference, as quoted by PTI.
Akin to Sam Curran, Buttler also agreed that some players could miss out on New Zealand Tests if their teams go the distance in IPL.
“It could potentially (mean),” he admitted on missing on the first home series in summer.
“…..but NZ tests have been added later on and there will always be a few who would be missing out on England games. You don’t know how far the players are going to go far in the tournament and miss games (for England).”
The swashbuckling batsman had no qualms in saying that money is a big issue when it comes to taking a decision between club and country.
“We all know the benefits of IPL. It’s a huge tournament and monetary rewards are obvious and also the experience you gain and it has its pluses too. And it’s obvious in the upturn of white ball game in England, and number of players participating in it and how beneficial it is to all of us,” Buttler said.
“Of course the schedule is tough and there is no perfect balance to it and ECB and players are working closely trying to manage that.”
“Is there a perfect answer? No in the times that we are operating at the moment,” he added.
Apart from Buttler, leading England cricketers like Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer (RR), Moeen Ali and Sam Curran (CSK), Tom Curran (DC), Dawid Malan (PBKS) will also ply their trades in the 14th edition of IPL.
“IPL is advantageous to a lot of people with the money that’s involved. It’s the biggest tournament in cricket in terms of money and careers can be short but we know that playing for England can be a huge draw and we are very well remunerated playing for England,” Buttler said.
He also spoke about how this year’s IPL will help England players to prepare for the T20 World Cup 2021, slated to be held in India in October.
“Obvious benefits of the player improvement, skills that you get to learn, especially this year playing IPL in India, where world T20 will be played.”
(With PTI inputs)
