The world has truly become global and so has the sport of cricket, especially during these unprecedented times of Covid-19. What happens in one corner of the world positively or adversely affects a country thousands of miles away in a different time zone and continent. India might be at a disadvantage in the WTC Final against New Zealand starting in Southampton in June due to the participation of England players in the Indian Premier League in April and May. England clash with New Zealand in a Two-Test series starting on the 2nd of June at Lord’s in London. Some of the members of their Test contingent were a part of the IPL 2021 in India – these included the likes of Chris Woakes, Sam Curran, Moeen Ali, Jos Buttler, and Jonny Bairstow. These England stars undertook a mandatory 10-day quarantine in the United Kingdom which was over this weekend – a good fortnight before the series opener in London.

But reports suggest that the ECB is not in a rush to include the IPL-returned England players into the mix for the New Zealand Tests. The players have moved from one bubble to the other over the last few months and need more time to recuperate before they get to top-notch international cricket – especially Test cricket – whose rigor and challenges require immense physical and mental fitness.

England also plays a lot of international cricket this year which ends with the Ashes in Australia and with teams expected to be moving in and out of bio-secure bubbles, they realize they need a larger squad to play across the three formats. This is another reason they will not hurry the IPL-returned players and may rest them for the two-Test series against New Zealand. It will also allow them to test out several new players in the New Zealand series for the rest of the home summer which includes the marquee clash against India and the Ashes later in the year.