IPL 2021: England Players likely to skip remaining IPL matches: ECB director

England Cricket Board (ECB) has ruled out the possibility of England players playing IPL 14 in view of their tight international schedule..

IPL 2021 had to be postponed due to the deteriorating Covid-19 situation in India. The IPL had to be postponed midway after several players and support staff tested positive for Covid-19. A total of 69 matches were scheduled in this season of IPL, but only 29 could be played. The final was to be held on 30 May.

The England Cricket Board has taken a big decision regarding the rest of the IPL matches. The ECB says that England cricketers will not play matches for the 14th season.

England Cricket Board has ruled out the possibility of England players playing IPL 14 in view of their tight international schedule. England cricket director Ashley Giles told the British media, 'We are planning to include England players in matches to be held in England. We have a Full Future Tours Program (FTP) schedule. In such a situation, if there are tours of Pakistan and Bangladesh (in September and October), then I hope the players will be there.

Ashley Giles further said that at the moment none of us knows what the IPL (rest match) will be like when it starts again. There is also no information about when and where this is going to happen. But when we start playing against New Zealand (the start of the Test series from June 2), our program is really very busy. We have to play very important cricket, including the T20 World Cup and the Ashes series. In such a situation, we have to take care of our players.

The England team is expected to go on a Bangladesh tour in September and then tour Pakistan in mid-October, immediately after playing in a five-Test series against India. This is followed by the T20 World Cup, which will be held in October-November. At the same time, England has to go to Australia for the Ashes starting on 8 December. The team played a limited-overs series in the West Indies just after the Ashes in January, which means England are quite busy till the next IPL.

Source: NYOOOZ DESK - IPL 2019