The former English skipper Michael Vaughan criticised the England and Wales Cricket Board's decision to recall their players early from the IPL 2024 for a scheduled bilateral T20I series against Pakistan. Vaughan added that playing in the IPL would have been more beneficial to England's preparations for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024.
England players were heavily involved in the ongoing IPL 2024 but the majority of the chunk left for the four-match T20I series against Pakistan at home started on May 22. Skipper Jos Buttler later revealed that it was his decision to skip the closing stages of the tournament with the World Cup horizon.
Buttler (RR), Will Jacks (RCB) and Phil Salt (KKR) played a major role in guiding their teams to playoffs but missed it due to national duties. Vaughan added that playing in the IPL playoffs is better preparation than playing a T20I against Pakistan.
"I'm all for international cricket, but now and again this tournament (IPL) in particular is so exposed to pressure, and these players are under a huge amount of pressure from fans, owners (and) social media, it's massive," Vaughan said on a Club Prairie Fire podcast. "They (ECB) have missed the trick by sending all their players home. Will Jacks, Phil Salt, (and) Jos Buttler in particular, playing in the IPL in the Eliminations pressure, crowd expectation, I would argue that playing here (IPL) is better preparation than playing a T20 game against Pakistan."
Vaughan further said that IPL offers more pressure and the standard is better than a bilateral series against Pakistan.
"This tournament (IPL) is so pressurised and the skill levels are so high, you could argue and I'm not disrespecting Pakistan or the England side. They haven't been playing a lot of T20 together. But I would say the standard here (IPL) would possibly be better than the game that we're gonna at Headingley (May 22)," Vaughan added.
