Young English player, Rehan Ahmed has decided not to participate in the IPL 2023 auction and instead wants to play more Test matches for England.
He has now become the youngest England men’s cricketer to feature in Tests and even picked up a fifer on his debut against Pakistan.
Earlier, Ahmed had decided to play in the IPL but has now withdrawn from it.
Additionally, head coach Brendon McCullum also encouraged the youngster to participate in the cash-rich league but Ahmed reportedly decided not to.
Brendon McCullum’s statement on Rehan Ahmed not playing in IPL 2023
It would be great. It would be awesome if he did. I’ve been involved with the IPL a couple of times so sometimes it works out for guys and sometimes it doesn’t. Why not?
Adding further, McCullum says,
Why not get an opportunity to go and play under different coaches and different captains and rub shoulders with different players and pick up those experiences? What 18-year-old kid anywhere else in world cricket is going to get those chances? I think we should encourage it.
To prepare well and put in strong contention for the English Test side, Rehan is also going to play in Division Two cricket for Leicestershire.
Ahmed has also shown a lot of promise because of which the England and Wales Cricket Board or ECB is going to work closely with the county side on his development.
Another reason for Ahmed not participating in the auction is the upcoming Ashes series.
Apart from Ahmed, many other English cricketers have decided to opt-out of the IPL. Some of these names are Sam Billings, Chris Woakes, and Alex Hales.
Although they have not given any reasons for the same, it is expected that Woakes and Billings are preparing themselves for red-ball cricket for England.
Some other English players like Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, and Joe Root will go under the hammer at the IPL auction.
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