England batsman Jonny Bairstow believes the IPL helps players to perform better in all three formats of the game and it’s also difficult to turn down the big money offered by the Indian Premier League.
Many England players will feature in the Indian Premier League 2021 – but there are discussions in the English media that some of them have skipped the tournament or even been pulled out by the ECB amid a packed calendar.
Jonny Bairstow was rested for England’s first two Tests against India but has arrived in time for the day-night Test in Ahmedabad. England’s squad was named for the third and fourth Test after the result of the second Test, and it was revealed that Moeen Ali will head back home. This is all a part of ECB’s rotation policy.
“Look, I think it is part and parcel of the game. There are guys who have white-ball contracts and red-call contracts and then there are those who have both. I think guys who have white-ball format will want to go to the IPL and you cannot tell them don’t go. When it comes to rest, if you are asking people to be away from home from Jan 2-March 29 and to be in bubbles, at some point, people are going to need rest, that’s where the coaching staff has decided to give players rest,” Bairstow said during a virtual press conference on Thursday.
“Mentally, we have to stay as fresh as we can. We have been staying in hotels and we cannot leave, it is taxing and it is about staying fresh to produce the best on the pitch. When you are talking about the kind of money the likes of Kyle Jamieson, Chris Morris have got, it is hard to turn it down, it can be hard for anybody to turn it down. I do not believe there are any priorities, if you look at our away record, we have won six of our last seven Tests away from home, these results do not come by prioritizing one format of the game,” Bairstow added.
