It's Not Worth Picking Players Who Choose IPL's Money Over Representing The Country - Shane Warne

Former Australia spinner Shane Warne reckons Cricket Australia (CA) should come down hard on the players who choose to play in the IPL over playing for their country. The IPL 2021, which was suspended mid-season in early May due to a covid-19 outbreak in the franchises, is set to resume in September in the UAE.

However, the September-October window of the cash-rich tournament will clash with the international matches of some teams such as England and Australia, and the tournament will conclude days before the start of the T20 World Cup. Hence, the boards and the players will have to make the decision where they could be skipping the second half of the IPL.

The likes of David Warner, Pat Cummins, Glenn Maxwell have decided to withdraw from Australia’s upcoming tours of West Indies and Bangladesh for white-ball matches due to personal reasons. It is believed that they want to remain fresh for the second phase of the IPL 2021 in the UAE. Australia have five T20Is and three ODIs in July in West Indies before they fly to Bangladesh for 5 T20Is in early August.

Shane Warne says that while he has no issues with players looking to earn extra money via the IPL, he condemns those who chose to skip national team matches for the opulent T20 league.

“I don’t begrudge the players getting the money they have, it’s fantastic. If they want to take the money, [let them] take it. But if you want to play cricket for your country and you choose the IPL, then maybe it’s not worth picking those guys then because this is going to happen – people are going to rest and miss Test matches and miss representing your country to go and play for money,” Shane Warne said on the Road to Ashes podcast.

There’s always someone that can replace: Shane Warne

Shane Warne, who is the all-time second-highest Test wicket-taker, feels that the players who opt to play in the IPL for money over national duty should be made benched for a few Test matches. He asserts that other players who are wishing for an opportunity in the national side should be given those, and make others realize that nobody is irreplaceable.

“It’s pretty hard, you know if, someone says here’s 3 million bucks or go over to somewhere and be away from your family for six weeks, it’s a very easy decision to take that money. But if you value yourself as a cricketer and want to test yourself against the best, there’s only one spot to do it and that’s international cricket, especially Test cricket.

“If you want to choose the money, that’s fine, no problem, but you might have to wait for a few Test matches and you might go down a few runs no matter how good you are because there’s always someone that can replace you,” the legendary leg-spinner furher added.

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