Joe Root expresses disappointment at being unsold at the IPL Auctions
England Test captain Joe Root lamented his IPL rejection but also said that it’s understandable. The 27-year-old revealed that he will take this period to prepare for the upcoming home season. However, he reiterated that an IPL contract would've helped him get good exposure.
After looking at his teammates benefit from the IPL, Joe Root finally put his name in the auction for this season’s IPL. He had said that he wanted to play more T20 cricket and get more exposure. He had revealed that IPL would have helped him improve his skills given him very good exposure. However, despite being one of the marquee players, the cricketing world was taken by surprise when Root went unsold in the auctions.
Joe Root, England’s Test captain, was notably disappointed. He expressed his disappointment as he didn’t want to play IPL for money but wanted to get more exposure in T20 cricket.
“I was disappointed. The reason I wanted to go out there was to play more Twenty20 cricket. It wasn’t to go and earn as much money as possible. I’m not in that position,” Root quoted in The Guardian.
However, Root understood that he wasn’t going to fit into any of the IPL teams and that might have been one of the reasons for his omission.
“For me, I wasn’t going to fit into any one of those IPL teams. There’s not really much you can do. It was disappointing but it’s also very understandable. Sides have a clear idea of what they want their makeup of their team to look like and they build around that,” he said.
He also revealed his plans ahead of a hectic summer. He stated that he will be preparing for the Test series’ and he will be making sure that everything is set for the home season. However, he kept reiterating that an IPL contract would’ve been a good experience.
“You’ve just got to get on with the rest of the cricket I can play. It gives me a really good period to make sure everything is set for the start of the Test season back at home but it would have been really nice to have had the experience and everything that the IPL brings to the table,” the 27-year-old further added.
When asked about how he could impress T20 franchises in the future, the Yorkshire batsman said that it was totally out of his control.
“It’s completely out of my control. The amount of Twenty20 cricket I’m available to play at the moment is minimal and there’s a World T20 in a couple of years’ time. I thought it [the IPL] would be a great opportunity to get some good experience in a fantastic tournament,” the England captain further added.
