England’s Joe Root has “sacrificed” the chance to set foot in the 2022 IPL mega auction to “throw” all his energy into bringing back the fortunes of his under-fire Test team. Root is yet to play in the IPL following going deterred in the 2018 auction.
Previous week, Root stated he was considering setting foot in the mega auction but appended, he would look to play in the tourney only if it does not disturb him from his Test career.
Nevertheless, the wait to see him feature in gainful league augmented further as he has decided to emphasize the English Test team, which just succumbed to a shaming 0-4 Ashes trounce.
“There’s a lot that we need to do for this team, which deserves all of my energy,” Root stated at the post-match conference following his side’s 146-run loss to Australia in the fifth Test.
“I’ll keep sacrificing as much as I can because I care so much about Test cricket in our country and trying to get us to where we want to be,” appended the superstar batter, vouching he has turned down the opportunity to enter the auction.
“It’s very difficult when you get beaten as heavily as we have done on this tour to convince people I’m the right man.”
“But I can tell you one thing for sure – as long as I have the opportunity to captain this team, I will throw everything into it and give everything – for everyone supporting us, for the guys around me, for the players – to try and provide an environment that allows us to be successful,” Root stated.
The IPL has stretched to 10 teams commencing this year and the mega-auction ahead of the forthcoming season is scheduled to be held on 12th and 13th February in Bengaluru.
