Stupid to blame IPL for England's poor performance in Ashes, says Kevin Pietersen on David Gower statement

01/22/2022

Reacting to David Gower's statement, Kevin Pietersen has stated that it is stupid to blame the Indian Premier League (IPL) for England's 0-4 defeat against Australia in the recently concluded Ashes. Gower had stated that the England cricket team had players who were unavailable due to the IPL.

England suffered a harrowing 0-4 defeat in the recently-concluded Ashes series, and the poor performance of the Joe Root-led side opened doors for criticism from fans and cricket experts all over the world. The England cricket team, which had a great batting line-up and world-class bowlers, failed to dominate the Pat Cummins-led side throughout the five-match series. However, the visitors managed to draw the fourth Ashes Test in Sydney, and avoided a clean sweep by Australia.

After Australia handed a 4-0 defeat to the Three Lions in the Ashes 2021-2022, former England cricketer, David Gower had lashed out at the national team, saying that he was annoyed after the series defeat. Gower further added that the England cricket team had players who were unavailable because of the IPL.

Reacting to Gower's statement, Kevin Pietersen, who is a four-time Ashes winner with England, stated that it is stupid to blame IPL for England's poor performance in the recently concluded Ashes series. Pietersen, who had earlier captained the Delhi franchise in IPL, further added that hardly any of England's Test team players feature in the cash-rich league, and blaming IPL for the team's Ashes debacle is not fair.

"It is stupid. You can't blame the IPL for the demise of Test cricket in England. It's crazy. I've commented on it quite a lot. It's the system, it's the county cricket system, which is poor. So there's no blame," Pietersen, who is representing World Giants in the Legends League Cricket, said during an interaction on Thursday.

"It's crazy to blame the Indian Premier League because if you have a look at the Test team, there's only maybe (Ben) Stokes (Jonny) Bairstow and (Jos) Buttler who play the IPL...

"Hardly any of the Test team players play the IPL... So how can you blame the IPL? You can't blame the IPL. It's crazy," Pietersen added.