Since it is going to be a mega auction, lots of star players are expected to go under the hammer. In that process, England captain Joe Root and fast bowler Mark Wood are also weighing their potential involvement in the 2022 season of the cash-rich league.
Notably, Root, England’s Test captain, has never been picked up by an IPL franchise. In fact, he has not entered the auction since going unsold in 2018. Even if Root gets picked in the upcoming auction, he will likely leave the competition before the knockout stages as England’s first Test against New Zealand starts on June 2. Not to mention, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is yet to confirm the availability of centrally contracted players for the upcoming IPL season.
Root made it clear that his priority will be playing the red-ball format, and his participation in IPL will remain active as long as it doesn’t conflict with his commitments of playing Test cricket.
“I have not made a decision on the IPL just yet. It is something I will have to keep wrestling with. Time is ticking, but I have a lot to weigh up. The thing I will weigh up is: will it have a negative impact on me playing Test cricket for this team? If I don’t think it will, then I will put myself in that position to play and put myself in the auction. But I will never compromise or do anything that will detract from playing Test cricket for England. It is so important to make sure that is the priority for me and other players as well,” Root said on Wednesday as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
Similarly, Wood last played in the lucrative league back in 2018 for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and withdrew from last year’s auction to spend time with his family. But, Wood has already submitted his paperwork for the upcoming auction.
Wood reckoned the IPL provides a lot of learnings, and it will be good considering England has a really better one-day side. The 32-year-old cited the example of South African speedster Anrich Nortje and said playing in IPL helped the Proteas paceman, which was evident in the T20 World Cup 2021.
“If I look ahead to the World Cup and I can learn something in the IPL, if I can put myself in pressure situations and try and get better for the end of the year, that’ll be good. We’ve a really good one-day team, and this could be our time to really win things. That’s a burning desire,” said Wood.
“We’ve seen the benefits to other fast bowlers. I was watching [Anrich] Nortje do well there. When we played the T20 competition [World Cup], he looked really good because he’s had that experience. If I can move my game forward, that would be brilliant,” he added.
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