Chris Silverwood, the England head coach, has confirmed all England players taking part in the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will stay back in India for the whole tournament. It means if any of them are involved in the play-offs stage of IPL 2021, they are almost certain to miss the opening Test of the home series against New Zealand, beginning on June 2 at Lord’s.
The Test series begins only two days after the IPL 2021 final to be held in Ahmedabad’s newly-built stadium on May 30, with the preceding play-offs scheduled at the same venue on May 25, 26 and 28. As many as 7 of the 13 IPL-bound England players were selected to play at stages during the winter Test series in Sri Lanka and India. These players could now miss a home Test match due to their IPL 2021 commitments.
Both Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler will be unavailable for RR’s first game, with the former’s availability for the entire tournament in doubt
“There is a reluctance within the ECB to go back on an agreement made with the players that they are allowed to play the entire IPL and also an acceptance of the logistical challenges of adapting and changing plans to fly players back from series and tournaments in a bio-secure manner,” reported Cricbuzz.
Silverwood admits difficult to change IPL plans for New Zealand Test series
Given the circumstances, Silverwood conceded it is difficult to change IPL participation plans for the New Zealand Test series.
“We haven’t looked at selection or anything like that for the Tests yet, but, for me, playing for your country is a big thing,” he said. “It’s difficult to change anything so they’ll be staying for the whole IPL as it stands, yes. Listen, we’ll be looking at the Test series and working our way back to see what sort of preparation we need and we haven’t done that at this time. It’s something we will be doing.”
There’s a chance England could have all their first-choice Test players facing the Kiwis but that requires all their IPL teams to fail in the playoff race. But that’s a slender chance at the very best, considering the spread of England Test players across 8 IPL teams. The worst-case scenario is if Rajasthan Royals (RR) go all the way and the likes of Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Jos Buttler are ruled out of the first Test.
In whatever scenario, England will be underprepared for the New Zealand Test series as their players will have limited training period upon return from India. And having been in the bio-bubble for so long, a few of them could even want to spend time with their families for a couple of days after reaching UK, which would then further eat into their training time.
Silverwood defends England’s rotation policy for India series
The need to manage workloads and take care of mental health while also prioritising a busy calendar was why England opted for the controversial rotation policy through the Test series in Sri Lanka and India. Silverwood reinforced the same and defended the policy amid criticism following the 3-1 series loss to India.
“The rotation system, I’m happy with that,” he said. “You look at the amount of cricket that we’ve played and the amount we have in front of us, we have got to be proactive in looking after our players, making sure we keep them as fresh as possible so we can keep them going as long as possible.”
“We talk about working our way towards the Ashes and I want the squad to arrive there fit and in form, both physically and mentally. It’s a tough tour, we know that, and one we’re prioritising. So we want to make sure everyone arrives at that point in as good a place as possible. We have to look after our players.”
England’s rotation policy could extend into the Ashes
With the IPL preceding a busy home international summer that then leads into the T20 World Cup and the Ashes, Silverwood hinted that the rotation policy could even extend deep into the year when they face arch-rivals Australia to get the urn back.
“It’s certainly something we have to be aware of and consider because we don’t know what the landscape will look like from a Covid point of view yet, do we? I know things are slowly opening up, but we will be guided by the medical advice and what’s happening in the country,” Silverwood said.
“We are trying to grow a group of players where we can put a strong side all the time. Again, we have to be aware that we have to look after our players. There is a whole load of cricket coming up this summer, then we very quickly disappear abroad once our summer is finished. We’ve got to make sure we are proactive and look after our players.”
England didn’t take the India series lightly: Silverwood
There have been question marks raised over his team’s commitment for the India Test challenge because of the rotation policy but Silverwood said at no stage did they take it lightly, adding that his boys will be better for the experience.
“‘No-one took this series lightly I can promise you that, absolutely not,” he said. “We came here wanting to win this and we went hard in that first Test and won it. India then came back hard in the last three Tests.”
“It’s a very difficult place to come to and win. We’ve seen that time and time again. History tells you that, not just for England but for other countries as well. Don’t for one minute think we took this series lightly because we didn’t. But we knew it was going to be tough.”
“The vision that Joe and I have got is that we become world number one. Not only that we do that, but we stay there. I think we have the talent in there to do that. We’ve got a very good mix of experience and youth. Not everything is going to go our way, we know that. Equally, we have won six Tests in a row and been successful on the subcontinent.”
“We know that we’re not the finished article and we knew India were always going to be a very tough side to beat in their own backyard. But I think the experiences the lads have got throughout this tour will stand them in good stead and we hopefully see the rewards of that further down the line,” Silverwood added.
This article is auto-generated by Algorithm Source: www.cricxtasy.com
