England players rake in IPL moolah
An Englishman in every team as Ben Stokes, Tymal Mills and Chris Woakes go as the most expensive buys in the IPL auction
NEW DELHI: A total of ~30.7 crore was spent on Ben Stokes, Tymal Mills and Chris Woakes at the IPL auction in Bengaluru on Monday. Add Eoin Morgan and Jason Roy to that list, along with Jos Buttler, Sam Billings and Chris Jordan who have been retained by Mumbai Indians, Delhi Daredevils and Sunrisers Hyderabad respectively, and the IPL now has an Englishman in each of the eight teams. Considering Dimitri Mascarenhas was the only Englishman to play in the inaugural edition of the IPL --- for Rajasthan Royals --in 2008, this is an incredible change of fortune for England cricket. Back in 2008, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) didn’t allow centrally-contracted players to play in the IPL. Over the years, lack of a proper IPL window and international fixtures were to be blamed for the sporadic participation of English players. There were exceptions of course. Before Buttler, Billings and Morgan came prominent players like Andrew Flintoff (one season for Chennai Super Kings), Stuart Broad (two seasons for Kings XI Punjab) and Paul Collingwood (two seasons each for Delhi and Rajasthan). In between, fringe players like Michael Lumb, Owais Shah and Ravi Bopara tried their luck too but this is the first time there has been such a deluge of English cricketers in the IPL.
Three factors worked for English cricketers in the auction. Only last year did England reach the final of the World Twenty20 held in India. To franchise scouts and officials, that’s a big deal. Secondly, the biggest IPL stars outside India are mostly from Australia, South Africa and West Indies. But since most of them are retained, there was a growing need to find new Twenty20 experts. England offered that coterie of players. And this is also probably the first time England have an almost clean window for the entire IPL.
To top those factors was the recent tour of India undertaken by England. Roy was second highest scorer in the ODI series while Woakes was the highest wicket-taker.
In the T20 series, Joe Root was the highest scorer while Chris Jordan was second highestwicket taker. Barring Root, who opted out of the IPL to spend time with his newborn son, everyone has found a team.
A Sunrisers Hyderabad official had said there would be a good demand for England players depending on the ECB’s plans.