Putting his Test ambitions on hold, England ODI skipper Eoin Morgan (in pic) has decided to make himself available for selection in the 2015 Indian Premier league Player Auction likely to be held in Bangalore on February 16.
Morgan, who missed the last IPl in the hope of earning a Test berth, said he has scaled down his Test ambition and hoped to play in the eighth edition of the cash-rich tournament. “Given where I’m at at the moment, I think the IPl is the best thing for me,” Morgan said.
“The opportunity I gave myself in missing the IPl was the potential carrot at the end of the road. I think there were three positions available in the Test team at the start of last summer but I didn’t manage to get any of them. So since then its been scaled down a bit.”
Morgan said IPl is a great opportunity for the cricketers, including English players, to test themselves under pressure. “It’s nice to have one ear to the ground both by playing in the Big Bash and potentially the IPl again. It’s very useful because cricket is changing so much that its good to have new, fresh ideas,” he said.
“I think any England player who has the chance to play in these competitions should grab it with both hands. It’s a great experience and a huge opportunity to put yourself under pressure and bridge that gap between our domestic game at home and the international game.”
Smith credits IPl for success
Going through the form of his life, Australian batsman Steven Smith said his participation in the IPl has helped him improve his game and taught him to adapt to different situations. “It’s a great tournament to be involved in. I have to pay a lot of credit to the IPl for where I am today, particularly in one-day cricket,” he was quoted as saying in IPlT20.com.
“Playing in that tournament you learn a lot about yourself because you are playing every second day. You get faced with a lot of similar situations and if you don’t quite get the team over the line that day, you learn from it and face the same situation a couple of days later. I think it’s a great learning experience for any young cricketer,” he added.
The 25-year-old had captained Australia to a 2-0 Test series win over India after regular skipper Michael Clarke got injured in the first Test in Adelaide. Smith turned into a run-machine during the four-Test series against India, scoring 769 runs at an average of 128.16. He is the second best scorer in the ongoing tri-series. His contribution was recognised on Monday night when he was given the ODI and Test Player of the Year awards and collected the Allan Border Medal.