Former England Test captain Joe Root has been unable to participate in the Indian Premier League (IPL) due to national commitments over the years, but that may change this year as he no longer has the responsibility of captaincy and is also out of white-ball selection contention.
Root has revealed that he is "seriously" considering entering the upcoming IPL 2023 auction and hopes to get the exposure of playing in the world’s biggest T20 extravaganza. Notably, the IPL 2022 mini-auction is scheduled to take place on December 23 in Kochi.
Joe Root told dailymail.co.uk: “I would certainly debate going into the IPL draw quite seriously and hope to get exposure in that tournament. It would be great to get involved in the continuous enormity of each game and how much it means.”
Meanwhile, the 31-year-old also made it clear that he has no plans to retire from cricket anytime soon but wants to explore the opportunities in the shortest format of the game.
He further said, “I have no thoughts or feelings of retirement or slowing down or playing fewer formats. If anything, I feel a little bit more freedom with my time. I always used to get rested for the T20s and I feel like I got alienated from the format because I had not played enough of it. You can feel like you are getting left behind a little bit. Now, the next couple of years, might be a good time to explore playing a little bit more of that format and see how far I can take that side of my game.”
Root also said that playing in the shorter format of the game will benefit his game, as he is aiming to be part of England’s squad for the upcoming World Cup 2023, which will be held in India next year.
He signed off by saying, “That is especially valid because of how we are trying to play now as a Test team. Looking at the game through a T20 lens, will that benefit my Test cricket? With a 50-over World Cup next year, there are areas of my game that can benefit from playing more short-form cricket. When am I going to play some white-ball cricket if I don’t go out and search it out domestically?”
