England players expected to give preference to national duty over rescheduled IPL 2021: Ashley Giles

Tags: England, Ashley Fraser Giles

Published on: May 11, 2021

England’s managing director Ashley Giles has made it clear that the players will be expected to give preference to international commitments over a rescheduled IPL 2021 in case of a clash. India are looking for a September window to resume the T20 league. However, nothing has been finalized yet. India are also scheduled to host the T20 World Cup in October. England are due to tour Bangladesh and Pakistan before the mega event.

England managing director Ashley Giles was firm in his observation. He said, "If those tours go ahead I'd expect them (players) to be there. We're planning on involvement of England players in England matches.

IPL 2021 was postponed last week after COVID-19 hit the tournament. Had the tournament gone on as per original schedule, the IPL 2021 final would have been played on May 30. As such, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran and Chris Woakes would not have made it for England's two-match Test series against New Zealand, which begins on May 2.

Explaining that the New Zealand scenario was different, Giles elaborated, "The New Zealand scenario was very different. Those matches were formalised at the end of January, by which time contracts were signed for players to have full involvement in the IPL."

England’s five-match Test series against India will end on September 14. They are then scheduled to play limited-overs matches in Bangladesh and Pakistan before heading to India for the T20 World Cup. This will be followed by the Ashes.

"None of us knows what a rearranged IPL looks like at the moment. But when we start this summer our programme is incredibly busy. We have a lot of important and high-profile cricket," added Giles.

The former England left-arm spinner also stated that they would not look to rush back players like Buttler and Curran, who are serving their quarantine period. Although the players will be available for selection for the first Test against New Zealand, Giles maintained, "We're not going to rush them back into cricket. We may choose to look at some new faces against New Zealand."

--By A Cricket Correspondent

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