England head coach Chris Silverwood on Wednesday admitted that it is very difficult to stop players from playing in IPL after being questioned on the rotation policy. England’s multi-format players like Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Chris Woakes, and Sam Curran have all been rotated for the series against Sri Lanka and India which is now getting heated up after the second test loss against India.
Few of the England players are most likely to play all the matches for their respective franchises in the IPL which raises the question of priority for a T20 league more than the country. The rotation policy had been mainly implemented by the England team to get a breather in the bio bubble days and to have a fresh mindset ahead of a series with a busy scheduled year.
Chris Silverwood Reveals the Benefits In Playing T20 Cricket
Chris Silverwood admitted that it is very difficult to stop the English players from taking part in the popular franchise cricket league like IPL. He mentioned that if they miss Test matches as part of rotation policy and play throughout in IPL, it would benefit in a way that the players learn a lot from the best T20 leagues around the world.
“It is very difficult to say to the players that no you can’t play IPL. You can’t say no if you just see the numbers. IPL is a marquee cricket event in T20 world and so it’s very difficult,” Chris Silverwood said.
“I don’t think it’s an issue because players are playing fantastic high level of T20 cricket which can only benefit us really. Moving forward it benefits the player. Obviously, players make their own minds up about competitions (BBL, CPL, IPL) they go in but we benefit from their playing.”
“I am totally at peace with it. Just to reiterate Test cricket remains the priority at least to me.”
Chris Silverwood Hopes England Players Do Well In IPL
Chris Silverwood said that he feels excited to give opportunities to debutants if the senior players aren’t available due to IPL commitments. He also wished that the England players on the auction get picked up and improve in these tough Indian conditions.
“One of the things that I feel is it gives the opportunity to people. It’s exciting for me to see people make debuts, see people do well. As I said, I see the exciting side about it.”
I want them to do well, supportive of the decision they make really. If they are picked, it will be brilliant and I can only wish that they do well, get knowledge of conditions and improve as players,” he added.
