T20 World Cup 2024: On Michael Vaughan preferring IPL over Pakistan team, Nasser Hussain says this

Former England captain Nasser Hussain has thanked the Indian Premier League (IPL) for helping the English players prepare for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

The English contingent was in action yesterday for the 4th T20I against Pakistan at the Kia Oval stadium. It was their final pit stop before leaving for the Caribbean for the T20 World Cup to be co-hosted by the USA. England will walk in as the reigning champions of this edition, having won the previous T20 WC, in Australia, after beating the same Pakistani team in the final.

For a fact, the England team will not want to repeat the same mistakes they made during their title defense at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in India. The side which had won the 2019 CWC under Eoin Morgan's leadership, had fallen out of place 4 years later with Jos Buttler captaining the team. And after the series win over Pakistan yesterday, their hopes of a title defense look positive.

Nasser Hussain extends gratefulness towards the IPL

Nasser Hussain, who covered the 4th T20I between England and Pakistan yesterday as part of Sky Sports' commentary team, thanked the IPL for various reasons. The former batter claimed that the richest T20 league in the world is not talked about enough as to how much it helps the international players prepare for the big stages and the big games.

The credit behind getting the England players ready for the series and for the World Cup ahead was given to the IPL by Nasser Hussain. The likes of Phil Salt, Jos Buttler, Will Jacks, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, and Liam Livingstone had crucial and quite successful stints with their respective Premier League teams.

Salt even became an IPL champion after the Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad in the finale. Jos Buttler had returned to England after an eventful IPL 2024 campaign wherein he amassed 2 full centuries for the Rajasthan Royals. Will Jacks, too, had provided a major impact in the games he played for the RCB and was responsible for their unbeaten run in the 2nd half.

Jonny Bairstow had a century to his name as well when he led from the front to help Punjab Kings chase down the biggest-ever IPL total against KKR. Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone had decent seasons with CSK and PBKS as well. For that reason, Nasser Hussain thanked the Indian T20 league for giving the English players the feel to perform in big games in front of gigantic crowds.

"They’re a very balanced side, they’ve played in a lot of big games. We don’t talk enough about the IPL and how that obviously sets you up as a cricketer but also sets you up in big games. And under pressure and big crowds and that’s what you need going into a World Cup. So they’ve done all that they could do." - Nassen Hussain said via Sky Sports.

England squad for T20 World Cup 2024

Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonathan Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, Mark Wood