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'That weakens the Test side': Nasser Hussain says England players should have played in one IPL in 2020 & 2021
Writing in a column for The Daily Mail, Hussain wrote that England cricketers should have played only one of the seasons of the Indian Premier League in 2020 and 2021 so that they can focus on Test cricket.
Former England captain Nasser Hussain believes England cricketers should have played only one of the seasons of the Indian Premier League in 2020 and 2021 so that they can focus on Test cricket. The Joe Root-led England team recently suffered a 3-1 Test series loss against India, and one of the criticisms faced by the visitors was in their squad selection for every match.
England's player rotation policy has become a topic of debate, especially with several key players missing crucial games, just after gaining momentum.
Writing in a column for The Daily Mail, Hussain wrote that Bairstow should not have been given a break after being in form in Sri Lanka.
"Then there's Jonny Bairstow. He went home after doing well in Sri Lanka and struggled after returning to India for the last two Tests. Bairstow would have had the chance to say: 'Hold on, I'm playing well, I don't want to be rotated. I want to make a success of Test cricket'," Hussain wrote.
"OK, you could say the ECB were in full control of when players should take a break and it was all carefully planned, but there does seem to have been flexibility.
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"For instance, England admitted they had asked Moeen Ali to stay on after the second Test. Players can take ownership of these big decisions," Hussain added.
"That includes the IPL. I understand why players want to play in it. It is so hard in what can be a short career to turn down a lucrative IPL deal. And I also understand why they would want to play in both IPLs in a six-month period this year.
"But the multi-contracted players could have said: 'Hold on, the ECB are very good in saying we can do the IPL, I'll just do one of them. This is a unique year and I'm going to put Tests first'," he added.
"Most, if not all, have decided to do both IPLs, and the consequence is that Ashley Giles and the selectors have to play them in all cricket and risk burnout or rotate them, and that weakens the Test side, as we've just seen," he signed off.
