Strauss battles with IPL dilemma while England face tough task in India
AS if England’s task in winning a one-day series in India for the first time this century is not hard enough, the perennial hot potato of the Indian Premier League is once again being juggled in the background.
Today’s first of three 50-over internationals here is the perfect showcase for those England players who, without an early summer Test series this year, see a rare opportunity to fully cash in on India Twenty20 riches.
Only trouble is, the little matter of Ireland’s first one-day internationals to be staged in England, including a showpiece match at Lord’s, have been arranged at the start of May to potentially put a spanner in the IPL works.
Andrew Strauss, whose mantra is for limited-overs cricket to be treated as seriously as the Test game, is keen for England’s best white-ball players to get as much experience in the world’s best Twenty20 leagues as possible.
Yet his dilemma this year is whether to grant permission for the best players already on enhanced England one-day contracts to stay in India at a time when two games against Ireland represent preparation for the Champions Trophy.
England’s players have already been told they must be home in time to leave for a Champions Trophy training camp in Spain on May 16, ahead of the one-day series against South Africa that precedes the global tournament in June.
But Strauss must this week decide who can miss the games against Ireland on May 5 and 7, enabling them to be available for an extra two weeks in the IPL and making them a much more attractive proposition in the draft next month.
The decision will affect captain Eoin Morgan and others likes Ben Stokes, Alex Hale and Jason Roy, who will enter the IPL draft on February 4, with Jos Buttler and Sam Billings already under contract to Mumbai and Delhi. Others, like David Willey, Moeen Ali and Jonny Bairstow, could join them in the auction.
Stokes, who intends to enter under the highest reserve price of £240,000, said here on Friday that he will accept whatever Strauss decides, but there is no doubt that players are keen to maximise their IPL stays if they can.
It is a tricky one for Strauss, who knows he could scupper IPL involvement for players he would ideally like to take part if he tells them they can only stay in India for a month, but equally the Ireland games are no ordinary internationals.
Strauss has invested heavily in England being contenders for the Champions Trophy and the World Cup in 2019, and surely he would want their best team playing in home conditions just a month ahead of the first 50-over tournament.
Morgan was, controversially, allowed to miss a one-day international in Malahide against the country of his birth two years ago to play in the IPL, but it would be a big call from Strauss to let him do it again now.
The England captain goes into today’s match needing to prove himself all over again after missing the tour of Bangladesh and it would be extraordinary if he were allowed to duck out of two more matches against Ireland.
Morgan, who missed out on runs in both warm-up games in Mumbai, insists he has shrugged off all criticism of his absence and could ease a lot of concern over him with a big score today.
‘I haven’t seen pretty much any of it,’ said Morgan of the adverse reaction to his decision to miss out for safety reasons. ‘But some of it has been fed back through my family and friends. I don’t really pay any interest in it.’
Probable teams — India: Dhawan, Rahane, Kohli (cpt), Dhoni (keeper), Pandey, Jadhav, Pandya, Jadeja, Ashwin, Yadav, Bumrah. England: Hales, Roy, Root, Morgan (cpt), Buttler (keeper), Stokes, Moeen, Woakes, Rashid, Willey, Plunkett (or Ball).
MSCOTLAND yesterday made the perfect start to their Desert T20 campaign with a comfortable 24-run win over Hong Kong in Abu Dhabi. A brilliant stand of 127 between Calum MacLeod and Richie Berrington allowed the Scots to post an imposing 189-3 before the bowlers restricted their rivals to 165-6.