England players to leave IPL mid-way, few to stay

England cricketers were at the centre of attention in this year’s IPL auctions in February. Tymal Mills, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Eoin Morgan, Jason Roy and Chris Jordan went under the hammer and successfully were acquired by franchises at a very good price.

Mills and Stokes stood out and were the most sought out players at the auctions getting a whooping sum of Rs 12 crores and Rs 14.5 crores each respectively making Stokes the most expensive overseas player in the history of the IPL. Morgan and Jason Roy where acquired by Kings XI and Gujarat Lions for their base price of Rs 2 crores and Rs 1 crore respectively while Jordan was procured by defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 50 lacs. England all-rounder Chris Woakes was picked up by KKR for Rs 4.2 crores. Woakes have become a crucial cog in the wheels of 2-time champions KKR. He has already played 8 games this season with 10 wickets to his name.

Sam Billings’ contract was retained by the Delhi Daredevils and he appeared 5 times for the franchise this season managing to score one half-century. Jos Buttler too was retained by Mumbai Indians and is going well for them at the top of the order.

Stokes has set the stage alight with his immaculate bowling for Rising Pune Supergiant. He also hit a half-century but hasn’t been too consistent with the bat as his average of 18.14 suggests.

Mills came into the tournament with a lot of expectations but hasn’t been able to deliver to his potential. In 5 games he has played for RCB, Mills has 5 wickets to his name. His economy rate of 8.57 is a bit too high for a bowler of his quality and pace. He will, though, get better as the tournament progresses.

England has announced their squad for ICC Champions Trophy and is scheduled to play 5 ODIs – two against Ireland on May 5 and May 7 and three against South Africa between May 24 and May 29 –before the tournament kick starts on June 1. The 2-match ODI series against Ireland will coincide with the IPL and a few English players are scheduled to leave the IPL soon. However, ECB has permitted a few star players to carry on playing in the mega-tournament.

Players who are going to stay until the end of the IPL

Many international cricketers have spoken widely about the significance of participating in a tournament like IPL. They have conceded that they felt that they learned something from their experience of playing in the 6-week extravaganza. Kevin Pietersen has always been vocal about his thoughts on the IPL. He always wanted the English players to participate in the IPL and this year his wishes were fulfilled. ECB too have realised the perks of their players featuring in the IPL and have let Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, who was picked by KKR and Jos Buttler to play the full length of the IPL. They are set to miss the Ireland ODIs but will join the squad ahead of the South Africa ODI series which will begin on May 24.

This came as a huge sigh of relief for the franchises they were part of. All three play a huge role for their teams and have featured in almost all games for their respective franchise this season. Their limited-overs ability will further be strengthened after their IPL exploits.

Chris Jordan and Tymal Mills will also be available for the entire course of the tournament. Jordan isn’t a part of the ODI plans for England, though he does feature in T20’s regularly. Mills too specialises in the shortest format of the game. Both will be available for the full length of the tournament for their franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore respectively.

Players to leave within this week

Skipper Eoin Morgan, who plays for Kings XI Punjab, will leave for national duty. He is set to lead the ODI team in the Champions Trophy and for the other two series against Ireland and South Africa. Morgan didn’t get too many opportunities this IPL as he figured in just 2 games where he managed to score 22 and 13.

Sam Billings and Jason Roy too will depart home to take part in the series against Ireland. Both have been named in the squad for South Africa and Champions Trophy. Roy recently showed his frustration of not playing too much this year. The right-hander has 4 T20 centuries to his name but Gujarat Lions played him just in 3 games. Though he didn’t do much in these games but he deserved to get more opportunities.

Billings too got to play just 5 games for Daredevils. Both are set to get some much-needed game time before the Champions Trophy arrives.