England players leave Irfan Pathan furious

England players who left the Indian Premier League (IPL) prematurely for Pakistan series have left former Indian pacer Irfan Pathan furious.

The players who left the cash-rich league for the four-match T20I series are Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Will Jacks, Reece Topley, Jos Buttler, Phil Salt and Moeen Ali.

Frustrated Pathan on X wrote: “Either be available for full season or don’t come!”

Earlier, in his column for Mid-Day, Gavaskar had emphasized the importance of honoring commitments made to IPL franchises, suggesting that players who withdraw should face salary deductions.

“I am all for players choosing 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 which probably pay them more money in one IPL season which they don’t earn in a few seasons with their country. 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.

England squad for Pakistan series:

Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonathan Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, Mark Wood