England’s red-ball skipper, Joe Root has turned down the opportunity to enter the mega auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2022) scheduled for next month.
His decision has come after England’s mediocre performances in the recently summed up Ashes Test series 2021-22. Pat Cummins’ Australia handed over a whitewash with 4-0 as one of the five matches, Sydney Test got drawn between two.
The guests lose the Brisbane Test by 9 wickets, Adelaide Test by 275 runs, Melbourne Test by an inning and 14 runs, and the Hobart Test by 146 runs.
Root says he wants to throw all his energy in re-living England’s Test Cricket that looks shady after the Ashes horrendous defeat.
Considering the batter’s participation in IPL, he is yet to feature in the league as he went unsold during IPL 2018 auction. Notably, he is not the only one from the realm as many of England’s players are set to withdraw themselves from the top-notch league’s upcoming season.
Moreover, the recent reports also declared that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) might not issue NOC to the players in Ashes for IPL 2022 due to their worrying showcases in the Test series. The board instead wants the cricketers to focus on upcoming red-ball tasks prioritizing national duties over the league.
While turning down entering in IPL mega auction, Root stated,
“I’ll keep sacrificing as much as I can because I care so much about Test cricket in our country and trying to get us to where we want to be,”
It is pertinent to mention that the cash-rich league is set to inaugurate in late March. But, there seems uncertainty following the rising COVID cases in India. The Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) is still stuck in deciding venues with chances of the season being dragged outside India.
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