Jos Buttler. | (Image Credits: Twitter)
England skipper Jos Buttler has backed the country’s cricketing board to call the players early from IPL 2024 despite criticism from former Indian players. The 32-year-old keeper-batter believes that the best preparation for the T20 World Cup is by playing together in an international series.
The likes of Buttler, Liam Livingstone, Will Jacks, Reece Topley, Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, and Phil Salt left before the IPL 2024 playoffs, drawing criticism from Sunil Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan. Both Gavaskar and Pathan expressed agitation, stating that players should commit to the entire tournament or not come at all.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday ahead of the 1st T20I, Buttler opined that there shouldn’t be any international cricket that takes place during IPL. As quoted by ESPN Cricinfo, the Lancashire cricketer claimed:
“Look, as an England captain, my main priority is to be playing for England. It’s my personal opinion that there shouldn’t be any international cricket that clashes with the IPL. I think that these games have been in the calendar for a long time. Of course, leading into a World Cup, your No. 1 priority is playing for England and performing for England. I feel like this is the best preparation.”
“It was only fair for all franchise to lose a player each” – Sam Curran
Curran further stated that the even distribution of England players’ loss for all the franchises was justified and added:
“It was a decision that was made, that it was probably the right thing for us all to come back. It was only fair for all franchise to lose a player each or so… it would have been quite harsh if some franchises got to keep a couple of players and then some didn’t.