England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have called back its players from the Indian Premier League (IPL) just before the playoffs. The league stage of IPL is set to end on May 19 and the playoffs will commence on May 21. England are scheduled to play four T20Is against Pakistan at home starting from May 22 and ECB wants all the T20 World Cup bound players to feature in the series.
The squad for the mega event starting from June 1 in the West Indies and the USA was also announced today and this is when, ECB confirmed that the players will have to return for the Pakistan series. "Selected players, currently playing in the Indian Premier League, will return in time for the series against Pakistan, which gets underway at Headingley on Wednesday 22 May 2024," ECB said in the release published on its official website.
Looking at the current situation in IPL 2024, Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders will suffer as Jos Buttler and Phil Salt are the first-choice openers in England squad and they will not be available for playoffs. Both KKR and RR are leading the race in top four with the Royals on top with 16 points and the Knight Riders at second place with 12 points after nine matches.
Moeen Ali will also leave Chennai Super Kings (CSK) but the all-rounder hasn't got many chances to make an impact this season. Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran and Liam Livingstone all are part of Punjab Kings but they have won only three matches so far and might not make it to the playoffs unless they win all their remaining five matches.
England's T20 World Cup bound players with different IPL teams
Jos Buttler - Rajasthan Royals
Moeen Ali - Chennai Super Kings
Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone - Punjab Kings
Reece Topley, Will Jacks - Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Phil Salt - Kolkata Knight Riders
