Credit: X
The former India cricketer, Irfan Pathan, took to his official X account to blast the English players for leaving the 2024 season of the IPL early, to prepare for the upcoming T20 World Cup. Jos Buttler, Phil Salt, Will Jacks, and Liam Livingstone have already departed home, while the likes of Sam Curran and Jonny Bairstow will join them very soon.
It has been reported that the ECB wanted their players to be back in England, to play in a four-match T20I against Pakistan starting on May 22, before leaving for the Caribbean and the USA to defend their T20 World Cup title. As per the reports, BCCI also tried to negotiate for the England players to stay back in India till the conclusion of the IPL 2024 season, but their counterparts didn’t agree with them.
Irfan Pathan, who wasn’t quite happy with the continuous departure of the English players from the IPL, sent out a post on X, which read, “Either be available for full season or don’t come!” The 39-year-old was blunt in his remark, wanting England cricketers to either commit for the entire season of the IPL or else not arrive on the Indian shores altogether.
Sunil Gavaskar had also weighed in on the departure of the players from the IPL during the season, in his latest column for Mid Day. He wrote, “I am all for players choosing a country before anything else, but having assured various franchises about their availability for the full season if they pull out now, it will be letting down the franchises.”
“The franchises should not only be allowed to deduct a substantial amount from the fee that the player was bought for but also not give the Board, to which the player belongs, the stated 10 per cent commission of the fee that each player gets,” the Indian cricketing legend added.
As of this writing, Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals, who have qualified through to the IPL 2024 playoffs, will be missing their key players at the top of the order, namely Phil Salt and Jos Buttler respectively. These two teams are also scheduled to play against each other in the final group stage game of the IPL 2024 season at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Sunday, May 19.
