England’s will head into the T20 World Cup as defending champions. (AFP Photo)
Michael Vaughan suggested the it would have been better preparation if the England stars had played in the IPL rather that the bilateral series against Pakistan.
The 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League is coming to a close with the final taking place tomorrow. But one aspect that received quite a bit of attention was some of the English internationals prioritising their national commitments as the IPL went down to the business end and the former England skipper, Michael Vaughan suggested that the English Cricket Board might have missed the trick by not making use of high-pressure games in the knockouts to help prepare the English stars as the T20 World Cup comes closer.
Vaughan who is a regular member of the popular Club Praire Fire podcast said that the pressure and expectations that come with the IPL would be a much better form of preparation for the English players rather than playing against Pakistan.
“I think you’re going to miss the trick by sending all their players home. You know, I think Will Jacks, Phil Salt, Josh Butler, in particular, playing in the IPL in the eliminators, pressure, crowd, expectation. I would argue that playing here is better preparation than playing a T20 game against Pakistan,” he said.
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While Vaughan understands the importance of international cricket, he maintained his stance that the IPL would have put more pressure on the players which would have prepared the players much better than what would be a dead-rubber series against Pakistan.
He commented,” I’m all for international cricket, but now and again, this tournament in particular, it’s so exposed to pressure. These players are under a huge amount of pressure from fans, owners, and social media. It’s massive. I just felt particularly those two, and Butler, probably not as much, but I still think he could have stayed here”.
“But Will Jacks and Phil Salt, I think they’d have been better prepared staying here playing in the IPL, then going back to head and let’s play a game,” Vaughan added.
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With the 50-over World Cup not going the way England planned out, Vaughan suggested that the chopping and changing the side had done prior to the ODI World Cup in India garnered a lot of criticism and the side wanted to have the same group of players prior to the T20 showpiece.
Vaughan further commented, “I understand in a way why, because the 50 over World Cup didn’t go so well and there was a lot of swapping and changing in New Zealand, and the Ireland series leading into that 50 over World Cup in India and they got a bit of criticism for that”.
England will go into the World Cup as the defending champions and will look to defend the title. The side has been boosted with the return of Jofra Archer who will look to get back to his best form as England are set to open their campaign against Scotland.
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