IPL 2023 Auction: “I Would Certainly Debate Going Into The IPL Draw Quite Seriously” – Joe Root

Former England National Cricket Team Test captain Joe Root, who is part of the modern-day fab-4 alongside Virat Kohli, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson, is thinking of entering the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 auction.

The modern-day batting great Joe Root is the only player among the fab-4 who has not played a single game in the marquee Indian Premier League (IPL). The former England captain has never been picked up by an IPL franchise and has not entered the auction since going unsold in 2018.

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However, things could change this time around as Root is seriously thinking to enter the IPL 2023 auction and get the exposure of playing in the marquee T20 league.

“I would certainly debate going into the IPL draw quite seriously and hope to get exposure in that tournament. It would be great to get involved in the continuous enormity of each game and how much it means,” Root told dailymail.co.uk.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 player auction, which will be a mini-auction, is set to be held on December 23 in Kochi. The window for the franchises to retain and release players ended on November 15 and 163 players were retained by the franchises whereas 85 players were released.

I have no thoughts or feelings of retirement – Joe Root

The 31-year-old further stated that currently, he doesn’t have any “thoughts or feelings of retirement” and he has a lot of cricket left in him. Root added that he has gotten a bit more freedom after stepping down as Test captain and that he would like to explore the 20-over format in the coming years.

“I have no thoughts or feelings of retirement or slowing down or playing fewer formats. If anything, I feel a little bit more freedom with my time. I always used to get rested for the T20s and I feel like I got alienated from the format because I had not played enough of it,” he said.

“You can feel like you are getting left behind a little bit. Now, the next couple of years, might be a good time to explore playing a little bit more of that format and see how far I can take that side of my game.

“That is especially valid because of how we are trying to play now as a Test team. Looking at the game through a T20 lens, will that benefit my Test cricket? With a 50-over World Cup next year, there are areas of my game that can benefit from playing more short-form cricket. When am I going to play some white-ball cricket if I don’t go out and search it out domestically?” he said.

Also Read: “Captaincy Was Starting To Take A Toll On Me; I Just Felt Like A Bit Of A Zombie” – Joe Root