England skipper Eoin Morgan confirmed his availability for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the second half of the Indian Premier League (IPL) slated to take place in September-October in the UAE.
The confirmation from Morgan comes after the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) mutually decided to postpone England’s tour of Bangladesh, which was earlier scheduled to take place in September-October this year, to 2023. Bangladesh were to host England for three T20Is and as many T20Is.
However, Morgan called the decision to play in the IPL 2021 an "individual decision".
"It's a complete individual decision," Morgan said. "I think it was a win-win either way. If we went to Bangladesh we'd play in conditions that are foreign to us. If some guys go to the IPL, they'll play in similar conditions [to the World Cup] or for guys that need a rest, they take a rest,” he added.
The IPL was earlier suspended on May 4, 2021, after there were positive cases of Covid-19 within the franchises. KKR were placed seventh in the points table before the cash-rich league was halted. They had only managed to win two out of the seven games that they had played while suffering defeats in the other five.
The BCB had also said on Tuesday that they were willing to provide a no-objection certificate to Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur to feature in the remainder of IPL 2021.