IPL 2017: Jos Buttler leaves MI, Ben Stokes likely to miss playoffs for national duty

What’s the story?

Mumbai Indians opening batsman Jos Buttler would miss the playoffs of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017 owing to his requirement at the England setup for their upcoming limited-overs series against South Africa.

The five-match ODI series between the two nations is set to begin on May 24 with the 1^st ODI at Headingley. Although the ODI has been scheduled three days after the conclusion of the IPL, which is on May 21, the English wicketkeeper-batsman would be required to leave early to be with the squad and prepare for the series.

Notably, Buttler was allowed to play the IPL even as his England teammates, sans Ben Stokes, hosted Ireland for a two-match ODI series, which the hosts won comfortably 2-0.

In case you didn’t know

This was the first edition of the IPL wherein several English players participated at the same time. Apart from Buttler and Stokes, the England limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan, Jason Roy, Sam Billings, Chris Jordan, and Tymal Mills have been some of the prominent England players to have plied their trade in the 10^th edition of the league.

This change could be attributed to the change in the mindset of the England team management in terms of their approach to limited-overs cricket, the inception of which dates back to the aftermath of the 2015 World Cup, wherein England were eliminated from the group stages.

Ben Stokes has been the most valuable player for the Supergiant, having scored 283 runs and picked up 10 wickets

Details

“Buttler won't be with us for the playoffs but he has a great season for us,” said Mitchell McClenaghan, Buttler’s teammate at the Mumbai Indians. The right-handed batsman scored 272 runs from 10 games this season at an average of 25.09 and a strike rate fo 145.08 with one fifty to his name.

Apart from Buttler, Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes are also likely to leave their respective teams – the Rising Pune Supergiant and the Kolkata Knight Riders – on May 14, to participate in the South Africa series.

While Woakes has been one of the best bowlers for the Knight Riders so far this season, having picked up 17 wickets from 13 matches, Stokes has done justice to his price tag of Rs. 14.5 crore, by scoring 283 runs – with one century and one half-century – and picking up 10 wickets from 10 matches this season.

South Africa players including Kagiso Rabada, Chris Morris, AB de Villers and David Miller have already left their respective teams to play the limited-overs series.

Author’s take

While the teams invest a lot of time and money on their overseas players, that fact that nation comes first is understandable from the players’ point of view. This fact has also bene largely accepted by the franchises and accordingly, they have had replacements ready.

For example, Lendl Simmons has replaced Buttler at the top of the order for Mumbai Indians and has performed exceedingly well in the three matches that he has played, scoring 126 runs at 46.43.