After its Special General Meeting (SGM) in May, BCCI had announced that the remaining 31 games of IPL 2021 will be held in UAE in the September-October window.

ECB managing director Ashley Giles has already made it clear that the England players won’t be released for the remainder of IPL 14, which means that Rajasthan Royals will become one of the most depleted sides in the competition.

Notably, top English cricketers Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, and Liam Livingstone are part of the RR set-up and all four of them are unlikely to feature in the UAE-leg of the tournament.

Speaking on the same line, former India cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra recently said that there will be massive problems for the Royals in the absence of England cricketers.

“Buttler to miss the IPL. If Buttler and Jofra are not there, then it will be a massive problem for the Rajasthan Royals. There is a possibility that Ben Stokes might also not be available,” Chopra said in a video posted on his YouTube channel.

“He has said that it is very difficult for him to play because the English cricket board has a policy that they will keep the country first and they will have to go with what Ashley Giles is asking them to do.”

Aakash Chopra further pointed out that the ECB pays handsomely to its players, and thus England cricketers won’t be too concerned about losing their IPL money.

“The English players are very heavily paid. They do not have that much problem in skipping the IPL, unlike the other nations. Because the English players are paid quite well, the English Cricket Board is able to tighten the screws a little bit more.

“Because the financial loss does not pinch you that much, you are able to choose country over club. That’s what I feel,” he remarked.

Rajasthan Royals were placed at the fifth position in the points table with 3 wins from 7 games, when the IPL 2021 was postponed on May 4 due to COVID-19 cases in bio-bubbles of multiple franchises.