England are set to play against Pakistan in the first of the four-match T20I series today (May 22) at Headingley in Leeds. For this series, eight English cricketer including the captain Jos Buttler returned early from the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) edition. The move didn’t go down well especially with former Indian cricketers Irfan Pathan and Sunil Gavaskar who openly criticised the foreign players for leaving the franchises in lurch at the crucial stage of the tournament.
For the unversed, apart from Buttler, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, and Will Jacks would’ve played the playoffs for their respective teams if they had stayed back at the IPL. Their absence will certainly make the difference for their teams. But Jos Buttler has backed ECB’s decision to pull the players out of IPL for the Pakistan series.
