Leading the way have been England cricketers, who have already left the league to prepare for the ICC cricketing extravaganza, starting next month.
Liam Livingstone, Jos Buttler (Rajasthan Royals), Will Jacks and Reece Topley (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) have left the IPL to join defending champions England squad ahead of the T20I series against Pakistan, beginning on May 22.
The absence of Livingstone and Buttler was clearly visible in Wednesday’s Rajasthan Royals vs Punjab Kings game while RCB will also dearly miss Jacks and Topley in their crucial encounter with Chennai Super Kings on May 18.
Clearly not happy with overseas players leaving the IPL during the business end of the tournament, the former India all-rounder slammed the foreign stars.
“Either be available for full season or don’t come”, Pathan said on a social media post after Royals’ fourth straight defeat.
Legendary Sunil Gavaskar also earlier called for decisive action from the BCCI and IPL franchises on players and their respective cricket boards for withdrawing from the IPL midway.
“I am all for players choosing a 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. 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 wrote in his column for Mid Day.
Gavaskar advocated for measures to hold players and cricket boards accountable for breaching their commitments.
Punjab’s stand-in skipper Sam Curran after Wednesday’s game also stated that he and Jonny Bairstow will head back home on Thursday and will miss their side’s final league game of the season.