"Very difficult to say to the players that no you can't play IPL" - England coach Chris Silverwood
England coach Chris Silverwood has admitted that it is very tough to tell players they can't play in the cash-rish Indian Premier League (IPL).
England have been rotating their all-format players in Tests to keep them fit. While Jos Buttler played only the first Test against India, Mark Wood and Jonny Bairstow are yet to feature in the four-match series.
Although Mark Wood pulled out of the IPL 2021 Auction, 16 England players will still go under the hammer today.
Speaking at a virtual press conference, Silverwood said:
"It is very difficult to say to the players that no you can't play IPL. You can't say no if you just see the numbers. IPL is a marquee cricket event in T20 world and so it's very difficult."
Silverwood, however, doesn't believe that the IPL has become a priority for some players. He added:
"I don't think it's an issue because players are playing fantastic high level of T20 cricket which can only benefit us really. Moving forward it benefits the player. Obviously players make their own minds up about competitions (BBL, CPL, IPL) they go in but we benefit from their playing.”
While the likes of Eoin Morgan and Jofra Archer have been retained by their respective IPL franchises, England Test captain Joe Root did not put up his name for the auction.
IPL 2021 Auction to be held today
The IPL 2021 Auction will take place in Chennai today from 3 PM onwards. Around 1,100 players registered themselves for the mini-auction, but only 292 made it to the final list.
A total of 164 Indian players, 125 overseas cricketers and three players from the Associate Nations will be up for grabs for the eight franchises.
The likes of Harbhajan Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Glenn Maxwell, and Steve Smith are the players with the highest base price of ₹2 crore.