Kevin Pietersen -the ex-England skipper has said that it’s “stupid” to blame the Indian Premier League for England’s embarrassing Ashes 0-4 loss to Australia in the recently-concluded 5 Test match series.
Former England captain David Gower was “annoyed” after England’s meek surrender resulting in another Ashes defeat and said current skipper Joe Root had players who were “unavailable” because of the IPL.
Kevin Pietersen: One Can’t Blame IPL For Test Cricket Demise In England
Kevin Pietersen, an Ashes winner in 2005, 2009, 2010-11, and 2013, laughed at the remark.
“It is stupid. You can’t blame the IPL for the demise of Test cricket in England. It’s the system, it’s the county cricket system, which is poor,” Kevin Pietersen, who is representing World Giants in the Legends League Cricket, said during an interaction on Thursday.
“It’s crazy to blame the Indian Premier League because if you have a look at the Test team, there’s only maybe (Ben) Stokes (Jonny) Bairstow and (Jos) Buttler who play the IPL. Hardly any of the Test team players play the IPL… So how can you blame the IPL?”
Off-the-field, the English cricketers were also mired in a controversy after a report claimed that there was a “drinking culture” in the team with the players and coaches drinking late into the night before police broke up the session.
Kevin Pietersen said there was no harm in it as the players are affected by the bio-bubble restrictions. England faced an embarrassing 0-4 defeat in the recently-concluded Ashes series, drawing criticism for their uninspired performances throughout the five Tests Down Under.
Moeen Ali And Jos Buttler Were England Cricketers Retained By CSK And RR In IPL 2022 Respectively
A total of 27 players were retained in the retention list for IPL 2022 by the eight existing teams. Ace players like Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and Kane Williamson have been retained by their respective teams ahead of the mega auction in 2022.
England players like all-rounder Moeen Ali and wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler were retained by CSK and RR respectively for IPL 2022. England’s 2019 World cup winning skipper Eoin Morgan, who led Kolkata Knight Riders to IPL 2021 final, was released by the franchise.
Sam Curran picked nine wickets for CSK before he was ruled out of the tournament owing to a lower back injury. Sam Curran was pipped by his compatriot Moeen Ali in CSK’s all-rounder spot in the retention list.
Ahead of the second leg of IPL 2021, Jonny Bairstow (SRH), Dawid Malan (PBKS), and Chris Woakes (DC) had pulled out of the tournament due to personal reasons. All three players were released by their respective franchises.
Star England all-rounder Ben Stokes and pace bowler Jofra Archer also were released by the franchise after they couldn’t participate in the entire IPL 2021 season due to various injuries. Punjab Kings duo of pacer Chris Jordan and spinner Adil Rashid along with Delhi Capitals pace bowlers Chris Woakes and Tom Curran are the other released players from England.