Buttler unlikely to appear at postponed IPL 2021
Jos Buttler said he has no hope of playing in the rescheduled IPL later this year, which has dealt a major blow to the Rajasthan Royals. The climax of the tournament, which was postponed earlier this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, should coincide with England’s limited outbound tours to Bangladesh and Pakistan ahead of the T20 World Cup.
Although England players were allowed to play in the IPL in March and April and as a result skipped New Zealand’s tests this month, it was because matches against Kane Williamson’s side were late added to the calendar. The ECB had already agreed with its players that they could play the entire tournament in India and did not feel able to back down from that agreement after the tests against New Zealand were added.
“I think in terms of how much cricket we play, we play a hell of a lot and we understand it’s a short career and you want to be available and play as much as you can. But at certain times, I don’t think is possible – and I think Covid has complicated that even more.
“It’s a day and age where we’ve got to look after people and applaud really that the guys are trying to be forward-thinking. Is it perfect? No, of course it’s not, I don’t think so, but I’d rather we look after our guys.
“I don’t think there’s any perfect answers. I think in England we’re playing a lot of cricket, more than most. And obviously there’s a lot of cricket left this year and there’s some big cricket to come up. So, those breaks were put in there – I think it’s important for everyone to be looked after really well.”
“It’s always disappointing when you miss cricket,” Buttler said. “I was feeling in good touch and things were going well but I retain that confidence if I get another chance. At the same time, what has been helpful as a player are the open discussions you have with the coaches and captains. Those rest periods are there because it probably allows you to throw yourself into everything when you are involved.
“If it’s an endless piece of string then at some point you are going to burn out. Of course it is disappointing to miss games – you want to play everything – but I retain that confidence if I get another chance that I will be in a good place.”
