England at the IPL: ‘Refreshed’ Buttler, rusty Livingstone, and WC tune-ups for fringe players،
The 17th IPL season begins on Friday in Chennai and runs until the end of May, with strong English representation. Despite various high-profile absentees, 13 England players are under contract at seven different franchises, with plenty at stake in the build-up to the T20 World Cup in June.
Missing stars
England's all-format players spent four months in India in the off-season during the World Cup and their Test tour, and many opted to skip the IPL in favor of some time at home. The result is that the English cast at IPL 2024 is slightly weaker than in more recent seasons, although there are still more than a dozen players involved.
Ben Stokes and Joe Root both made themselves unavailable ahead of the auction, while the ECB have kept Jofra Archer out as he continues his rehabilitation from injury. Gus Atkinson, Jason Roy (both KKR), Harry Brook (DC) and Mark Wood (LSG) have all opted out of their contracts in the last six weeks for personal reasons or to manage their workload.
All eyes on Punjab Kings
Jonny Bairstow is the only England player set to make a third stint in India since October, having also featured in the World Cup and last month's Test series. He was retained by the Punjab Kings despite missing the last edition due to injury and has played only a dozen T20 matches since the end of IPL 2022, but has an excellent record in the IPL in the previous three seasons.
He is joined by three international teammates at Punjab, Liam Livingstone, Chris Woakes and Sam Curran, who was retained on his record INR 18.5 crore (£1.8m) salary despite struggling to get fit over the past 12 months. Trevor Bayliss, England's 2019 World Cup-winning coach, is in charge, reinforcing the sense that English viewers will follow Punjab's fortunes more closely than any other franchise.
Livingstone's T20 form has fallen off a cliff since IPL 2023, averaging 20.76 with a strike rate of 129.30 in his last 40 matches in the format. He still has a strong chance of making England's World Cup squad, but he could benefit from a strong tournament to regain his rhythm and confidence ahead of his title defense in the Caribbean.
The butler is back
Jos Buttler was the MVP of IPL 2022 but had a quieter season in 2023 as Rajasthan Royals failed to qualify for the knockout stages, with more ducks (five) than one half century (four). He cut a tortured figure at the 50-over World Cup in India, unable to turn around England's fortunes as they crashed out in the group stage and averaging 15.33 with the bat, but did recently said he felt “refreshed” after a rare six-week break.
“I feel good, I feel refreshed,” Buttler told talkSPORT last week. “[Going to] South Africa at the start of the year was great for me: I really enjoyed the tournament [the SA20]…a change of environment with different people and getting out of the England bubble a bit is good sometimes, and I've had a bit of calm now before a busy period with the IPL and the World Cup. “
Buttler's leadership – both with the bat and on the field – has been vital to England's T20 World Cup triumph in Australia at the end of 2022, and their coach Matthew Mott hopes a good season with the Royals will give to Buttler the ideal preparation for their title defense. In the Caribbean.
World Cup tune-ups
Several members of England's likely World Cup squad will find themselves manning the drinks at some point during the tournament, with the number of foreign players allowed to feature in each squad still limited to four per match. Will Jacks and Reece Topley are both likely to spend much of the season on the RCB bench, while Moeen Ali and Phil Salt are not guaranteed starters.
But even if they don't play much, the ability to focus on T20 cricket for an extended period should prove beneficial: for England players not involved in the IPL, the only competitive cricket on offer to help to prepare for the IPL. The World Cup takes place at the start of the county championship season.
England have played just five T20Is – all in the Caribbean in December – in the last six months and have no matches scheduled before a four-match series against Pakistan starting May 22. players like Luke Wood, Tom Kohler-Cadmore or Tom Curran could still make a late bid for inclusion based on IPL form.
Influx behind the scenes
There has been a steady increase in the number of Englishmen involved in franchises' backroom staff in recent seasons, with Vikram Solanki notably guiding the Gujarat Titans to back-to-back finals – and the 2022 title – in his role as director of cricket.
Mo Bobat left the ECB last month to become the new director of cricket at Royal Challengers Bangalore, where he will work with former England coach Andy Flower as well as James Bell (psychologist), James Pipe (physio) and Freddie Wilde (analyst ). . Carl Crowe is also back at Kolkata Knight Riders as spin bowling coach, after leaving Lancashire.
All England players at IPL 2024
Moeen Ali (CSK), Phil Salt (KKR), David Willey (LSG), Luke Wood (MI), Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Chris Woakes (all PBKS), Jos Buttler, Tom Kohler-Cadmore (both RR ), Tom Curran, Will Jacks, Reece Topley (all RCB)
