England’s star wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler indicated his unavailability for the remaining matches of the Indian Premier League 2021 to be held in the UAE in September-October.
Buttler, who is an integral member of the inaugural IPL champions Rajasthan Royals, hinted that he could be an unlikely participant when their campaign resumes in the Middle East after a pandemic enforced halt.
England will be taking on Bangladesh and Pakistan at the time ahead of the T20 World Cup, and Buttler is likely to give international commitments a “precedence” over the IPL.
This, after England men’s director of cricket, Ashley Giles, had said that he expects all England players to be available for national duty.
“Usually the pocket of the IPL doesn’t clash with any international games, which makes it a very easy tournament to be available for. When it clashes with international cricket, England will take precedence I’d have thought.”
Buttler was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
England had rested and rotated their multi-format players through the winter tours of India and Sri Lanka and given them the allowance to take part in IPL 2021 entirely. The three lions also permitted the likes of Buttler to opt-out of the New Zealand Test series, which, according to the timing of agreement between the players and the management, wasn’t part of the schedule until January.
However, Giles made it clear that there won’t be any further adjustments made through the calendar year, not even for the IPL, as it gets rescheduled after being postponed on May 4 due to multiple COVID-19 positive cases.
Having had over a month’s break from then on, Buttler is now eyeing a strong comeback via the upcoming T20I series at home against Sri Lanka. England will also take on Pakistan during the limited-overs leg of the summer before facing up to India in a much-anticipated five-Test series.
