A few years back, English players were forbidden to play Indian Premier League however things have changed for the best over time. At the inaugural season of IPL, it coincidently clashed with County Championship season and New Zealand’s England tour, so the England and Wales Cricket Board had concerns about signing No Objection Certificates for the players who were already playing the other series for the country.
Taking that into account, Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen took the chance to note how things have changed while replying to a tweet by England Cricket wishing Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer all the best. “Good luck to our lads in today’s huge IPL game!”, the tweet read.
To which Pietersen replied, “Just imagine, Imagine this tweet 8/9 years ago. I am so happy these guys are benefitting positively from the IPL”. Earlier, he had criticised ECB for being jealous of the money that follows in the tournament.
“A lot of people in English cricket like to explain their attitude to the IPL as an ideological problem. It’s a problem with India and money. The ECB doesn’t really know how to deal with India or money. Whenever the IPL comes up in conversation you can feel the meeting room grow uneasy. When the IPL started, all ECB could see was IPL’s money and its own jealousy. Also, English players want to play in the IPL but they are afraid of not being picked for the national team,” wrote Pietersen in his autobiography ‘KP’ in 2014.
Written by Anjali Jha. Follow Anjali on Twitter today.
