England Test players will not be available for the later part of the IPL, to prepare for New Zealand series

It has been speculated on some reports that England players, who are scheduled to be part of the New Zealand Test series starting 2nd June, will not be able to play in the last leg of the Indian Premier League 2022.

Although no official IPL fixtures schedule has been released yet, according to the tentative dates, the league will kick-off from March 27 and will go on until the end of May, which is quite close to the Test series and if the players will play till the end of the league then they won’t get the time to prepare for the 1st Test match at Lord’s.

Other than Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes, who have ruled themselves out of this year’s IPL season, 22 England players have signed up for the mega auction which will take place on February 12-13. England Test players Jonny Bairstow, Mark Wood, Dawid Malan, Ollie Pope, Craig Overton, Sam Billings and Dan Lawrence are part of the 22 players list set to go under the hammer. All these players were part of the England Test squad in the recently concluded Ashes.

The England Cricket Board has recently expressed concern over the re-setting of the England’s Test team after their failed performances in recent times. We will see how many more England players will be signed in the IPL after the auction. It has been learnt that IPL franchises have been given the indication that they will lose their England players before the league concludes.

New Zealand is set to tour England for a 3-match Test series which will commence on 2nd June in Lord’s.