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'Leave the players out': Kevin Pietersen defends England cricketers on IPL debate, wants ECB to be questioned
Kevin Pietersen, who is currently in India as part of England Legends squad for the Road Safety World Series, urged everyone to ‘leave the players out of this’ and instead wanted questions to be asked to ECB officials.
Top England cricketers are on the firing line after speculations of them skipping the Test series against New Zealand in the first week of June to be available for the IPL playoffs grew stronger. At a time when the likes of Jos Buttler, and Sam Curran were bombarded with questions regarding giving preference to the IPL than Test cricket, former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen came in their support.
There are 12 England players, playing in the IPL and most of them are also part of England’s Test side. The players include Buttler himself, Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer (Rajasthan Royals), Moeen Ali and Sam Curran (Chennai Super Kings), Tom Curran (Delhi Capitals).
Pietersen, who is currently in India as part of England Legends squad fothe Road Safety World Series, urged everyone to ‘leave the players out of this’ and instead wanted questions to be asked to ECB officials.
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“So the PLAYERS are now being quizzed by media everyday about IPL and playing early Test matches in England. First the youngster, Curran & now Jos. The questions should be at Harrison, Giles & Smith! Not seen them front up to India debacle?! Leave the players out of this!” tweeted Pietersen.
Pietersen’s comments came after the British media grilled Buttler on players in all likelihood skipping the Test series against New Zealand starting June 2 if their franchises get to the play-offs starting in last week of May.
"No nothing of that sort (was discussed with me) and I don't know about other players. I think an agreement about participation in IPL was in place well before the New Zealand Test series was announced," Buttler said during a media conference.
However, like Sam Curran, even Buttler agreed that some players could skip New Zealand Tests if their teams go the distance in IPL.
"It could potentially (mean)," Buttler admitted on missing on the first home series in summer.
".....but NZ tests have been added later on and there will always be a few who would be missing out on England games. You don't know how far the players are going to go far in the tournament and miss games (for England)." The white ball dasher didn't hide that money is a big issue when it comes to taking a decision between club and country.
"We all know the benefits of IPL. It's a huge tournament and monetary rewards are obvious and also the experience you gain and it has its pluses too. And it's obvious in the upturn of white ball game in England, and number of players participating in it and how beneficial it is to all of us," he said.
"Of course the schedule is tough and there is no perfect balance to it and ECB and players are working closely trying to manage that." "Is there a perfect answer? No in the times that we are operating at the moment," he added.
