Contrary to former Australia captain Ian Chappell, who wants cricket boards to not value IPL over international fixtures, England batsman Jos Buttler says a separate window of two months should be considered to host IPL, as according to him it helps in developing cricketers.
Speaking to BBC podcast, The Doosra, Buttler said, IPL over the years has helped the English cricket to grow ad it’s the best tournament after ICC World Cup.
“There’s no doubt that it (IPL) has helped English cricket grow and the numbers of players who were involved in the last few years,” quoted PTI as saying Buttler in the BBC Podcast ‘The Doosra’.
IPL a fantasy cricket one wants to play as growing kid
Explaining his attachement with the cash rich league, Jos Buttler said that the format of IPL is like a fantasy cricket league everyone wants to play as a growing kid.
“Some of the match ups you get to see in the IPL are great. Bangalore has been amongst the top three teams with (Virat)) Kohli, AB (de Villiers) and (Chris) Gayle coming up and then to see them up against a (Jasprit) Bumrah or a Dale Steyn or (Lasith) Malinga,” said Buttler.
“As a kid growing up that is what you want to play — fantasy cricket. Mix all the teams together what it will be like if Kohli and de Villiers play together,” he addeid.
It helped the English Cricket
Talking about relation of IPL and English Cricket, Jos Buttler said that IPL is a quite important tournament for developing cricketers. He remembered Kevin Pietersen’s struggle to get involved with the IPL.
“He really paved the way for a lot of us to go and now play in the IPL with more blessing from English cricket. He is a pioneer in building the steps in place to realise just how important the IPL is for developing cricketers,”
Buttler concluded.
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