“There is no frustration to watch other English players in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018, as well as, no bitter feelings towards them”, it was the reaction of England’s Test skipper Joe Root when he was asked about the IPL Auction 2018, where he went unsold earlier this year.

At the moment, there are at least 12 English players are competing in the world’s biggest T20 extravaganza and they will certainly hugely benefit from the experience of playing here.

However, Root also wanted to play in the IPL but he failed to attract the franchisees during the auction. However,  the 27-year-old is happy to see his guys playing in the tournament, as it is directly benefitting England.  

Root told Sky Sports Cricket, “It’s not frustration watching the other guys. I went into the IPL auction to get a bit more exposure to T20 cricket, it didn’t materialize, it would have been nice to be involved in that but I’ve got no bitter feelings towards the other guys, I think it’s great.”

The right-hander further added, “They’ll benefit hugely from it and we, as a side, will benefit hugely from it. Look at the way Jos and Ben and a few guys came back from it last year and what it has brought to their games.”

Root signed off by saying, “Hopefully that can happen on a wider scale with more and more players going out there from English cricket, playing under scrutiny and in the high-pressure situations that the tournament brings, it can only be a good thing for us in the long term.”