Former India opener Aakash Chopra has lambasted England players for pulling out of the upcoming second half of the Indian Premier League (IPL) scheduled to resume from September 19 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Notably, just a few days ago, the English trio of Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan and Chris Woakes had decided to withdraw from the cash-rich league citing busy schedules and personal reasons. Before them, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer had also taken their name back.
Chopra reckoned that the franchises feel cheated when anything like that happens, and they don’t forget the name of such players who pull out from an IPL season.
“Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes – they were already not coming. But now Dawid Malan, Chris Woakes and Jonny Bairstow have also taken their name back. That means half a dozen English players will not be part of the IPL. It has been a mass exodus. The IPL family doesn’t forget,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
“The English players will have to keep this thing slightly in mind that when you pull out your name from an IPL season, the franchise that has bought you feels cheated, they feel you have betrayed them,” he added.
Chopra stated that franchises make strategies according to players, and when they withdraw, the effort behind all the plannings get ruined. The cricketer-turned-commentator also mentioned that the IPL team have an elephant’s memory as they don’t forget who left them and who joined them.
“Of course, these are tough times. We do understand all of that, but it remains in the mind that I had gone with you and had created my strategy after a lot of thinking, you were an important cog of my wheel, but the cog has left,” explained the 43-year-old.
“This means when the auction happens the next time, they have an elephant’s memory, they will definitely not forget who all had come and who all left. And because of this, when they say that Mitchell Starc will be paid a lot, it is possible he may not get it because when you take back your name twice, it remains in the mind of all teams,” Chopra added further.
