Hyderabad: After legendary India batter Sunil Gavaskar, former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan and former England captain Micheal Vaughan, former Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram has asserted that England players leaving their franchises in the playoffs and remaining unavailable for the rest of the cash-rich tournament to play a T20I series is "not fair".
England Cricket Board (ECB) recalled their players for the ongoing four-match T20I series against Pakistan at home for team bonding and the preparations for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024 which will be played in the Caribean Islands and America, starting from June 2.
Akram lashed out at the ECB saying, "If you cut salaries, will it affect anything if your team doesn't win after reaching the playoffs?" "You’ve put in all the hard work and in the last hurdle, your boys leave because they have to play for the country. It's not fair," Akram told Sportskeeda.
"This is what you play for. That's why it's frustrating not just for fans but owners, and captains of the teams for any league. So, I agree with Irfan (Pathan), come for the entire tournament otherwise don't come,” added Akram, who has 502 ODI wickets.
Meanwhile, Micheal Vaughan felt that England players should have continued to participate in the IPL playoffs instead of returning home and playing T20I games against Pakistan. "I think you’re going to miss the trick by sending all their players home," Vaughan said.
Irfan Pathan, part of the Indian team that won the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007, had taken to his X handle to express his discontent about England players leaving the lucrative tournament. "Either be available for a full season or don’t come,” Irfan, a former left-arm speedster, said.
Gavaskar, a former India captain, had also shown disappointment about the English players leaving the cash-rich tournament before the much-important knockout stage. "I am all for players choosing country before anything else, but having assured various franchises about their availability for the full season, if they pull out now, it will be letting down the franchises", Gavaskar wrote in his column for Mid-Day.
"The franchises should not only be allowed to deduct a substantial amount from the fee that the player was bought for but also not give the Board, to which the player belongs, the stated 10 per cent commission of the fee that each player gets," Gavaskar stated.
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