England trio out of IPL

ENGLAND’S Jonny Bairstow, Chris Woakes and Dawid Malan have withdrawn from the rescheduled Indian Premier League.

Postponed in May amid rising coronavirus cases in India, the IPL will resume in the United Arab Emirates on 19 September.

England’s Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer will also miss the completion of the Twenty20 tournament. England limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan is among nine England players still scheduled to take part. Bairstow, Woakes and Malan were in England’s squad for the fifth Test against India at Emirates Old Trafford which was cancelled on Friday.

Wicketkeeper Bairstow was due to play for Sunrisers Hyderabad, all-rounder Woakes had signed for Delhi Capitals and Malan - the world’s number one ranked Twenty20 batsman - was set to feature for Punjab Kings.

Buttler withdrew in August, Stokes is taking an indefinite break from cricket for his mental wellbeing, and Archer has been ruled out until next year with an elbow injury. Morgan will play for Kolkata Knight Riders and Adil Rashid will feature for Sunrisers Hyderabad alongside England team-mate Jason Roy.

Moeen Ali, Sam Curran (Chennai Super Kings), Sam Billings (Delhi Capitals), Tom Curran, Liam Livingstone (Rajasthan Royals), Chris Jordan (Punjab Kings) are the other England players involved, while Sussex pace bowler George Garton has signed a deal with Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Although some India players have flown to the IPL on chartered planes, English players will take commercial flights.

The IPL was suspended on 4 May after several positive coronavirus tests among players, with 31 games still to be played.

It has been moved away from India because of monsoon season.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan said the cancellation of the final Test was “all about the money”, but England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief executive Tom Harrison said: “This is not a situation which has been created by the rescheduled IPL.”