The list just keeps on increasing! David Willey has become the fifth Englishman to pull out of the IPL 2024 season. While others like Jason Roy, Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, and Mark Wood decided to withdraw their names before the start of the 17th season, Willey has done so after the season has already started.
Harry Brook has been out of action since December last year due to personal reasons, and he missed the England tour of India last year as well. David Willey has retired from international cricket, and the English cricket team has moved on from Jason Roy as well.
Wood & Atkinson missing the IPL 2024 to manage their workload?
The players who are left are Mark Wood and Gus Atkinson. The two premier fast bowlers have been stopped by their England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) from entering leagues in the past. Given the fact that Jofra Archer and Olly Stone’s fitness is circumspect, the ECB has decided to pull both out.
Given that both Atkinson and Wood play all three formats of the game, the ECB has decided to manage their workload with the T20 World Cup 2024 in mind. One has to also remember that both fast bowlers were in India from late January to early March.
They both played in the ODI World Cup 2023 as well, and Atkinson even went to the Caribbean in December last year. Taking all these into account, one can understand that the ECB wants their two fastest bowlers to be ready for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024.
Being the defending champions, they’ll need to ace players to be fit, and by sending them to the IPL, they’ll be risking not only their fitness for the event but also their chances to lift their third title.
Editors pick
