When the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) named their 15-man squad for the T20 World Cup, they also asked the selected players who were part of IPL 2024 to return home ‘in time’ before a home series against Pakistan.
That meant a host of IPL franchises were staring at losing their key English players right before the start of playoffs. The likes of Jos Buttler (Rajasthan Royals), Phil Salt (Kolkata Knight Riders), Will Jacks, Reece Topley (both Royal Challengers Bengaluru), Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone (Punjab Kings) among others left the competition early.
Now Punjab Kings coach Sanjay Bangar has revealed that ECB had given them the assurances ahead of the auction that they will make their players available for IPL 2024.
“When we went to the auction, the ECB had made it clear that all the players will be available. It is just that it so happens that the tournament got slightly extended, I would say, because of multiple reasons. Everybody was in a similar position but we lost those English players,” Bangar said.
By the time PBKS played their final league match of the season, they had just two overseas players left in their squad – Nathan Ellis and Rilee Rossouw.
Injuries to multiple players in addition to the departure of their English stars impacted PBKS, says Bangar.
“For us, even losing Livingstone with a niggle around his knee, the ECB pulling him out. Even KG (Kagiso Rabada) had an infection and he had to go back (to South Africa). Those things coupled together meant that when we came to the last two matches, we were short of players of international pedigree and experience. That hurt us but that is not the sole reason why our season was below par,” said the former India allrounder.
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PBKS endured another forgettable season, becoming the second team after Mumbai Indians to be eliminated from the playoffs race. They finish ninth in the 10-team competition.
