England players were away from the IPL in the final rounds, having gone home to play a four-match Twenty20 International series against Pakistan.
England and Pakistan are playing a four-match T20I series as part of their preparation for the 2024 T20 World Cup. Two of the three matches that have already been played have been rained out, which has slightly impeded the preparations. The only match in the series that has been able to happen thus far, the second Twenty20 International, was a very one-sided match that England won handily by 23 runs.
Because they participated in this series, England's players were disqualified from the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2024. Even though the league portion of the competition was largely over, Jos Buttler, Phil Salt, Will Jacks, and Reece Topley, the captain, might have all contributed to the playoffs. Regarding Salt, he was eligible to participate in the IPL final, as his team, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), defeated the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to claim their third championship. Instead of playing a T20I series at home against Pakistan, former England captain Michael Vaughan stated that the players would have been better prepared for the high-pressure atmosphere of the IPL playoffs.
After causing some controversy among Pakistani cricket fans, former wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal has since stated that, despite Vaughan's "painful" viewpoint, he agrees with him. "Over the past few days, I have wondered why a former England captain is commenting and taking Pakistan cricket non-seriously. It has been a painful thought, but I think he was correct in his assessment," Akmal posted on his YouTube account.
"Everybody knows the level of Pakistan cricket. We are losing against smaller teams like Ireland and in that sense, Vaughan said that it is not a tough series. So the fault is ours. Had it been any other team like New Zealand, South Africa and India then Vaughan would not have said it," he added. "We need to understand that in IPL, the best bowlers and batters are participating with crowds of 40 to 50,000. So it is tough cricket and quality cricket," he explained.
The IPL teams suffered greatly from the absence of England players, with the Rajasthan Royals losing Buttler at the top of the order. The stability that Salt and Sunil Narine provided at the top of the order was also missed by KKR. Jacks was a major contributor to RCB's incredible league comeback.