Andrew Flintoff May Be Barred From Playing IPL
After Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and David Hussey, now its Andrew Flintoff’s turn to pull out from the second season of Indian Premiere League (IPL). According to reports, the England Cricket Board has indicated that Flintoff may not be allowed to participate in the IPL due to fitness concerns. The English all-rounder who turned out to be the costliest contracted player in IPL, has injured himself in the recently ended Test match against West Indies.
Flintoff has not been selected for the fourth Test against West Indies due to the hip injury. While interacting with the media, ECB Chief Executive David Collier said that the English board wants to find Flintoff fit for this year’s Ashes series. He added that ECB is very concerned about player’s injury as it may prevent him to participate in the all-important Ashes series against rival Australia.
Andrew Flintoff and his team mate Kevin Pietersen were bought by Chennai Super Kings and Bangalore Royal Challengers, respectively at a whopping price of $1.55 million each. David Collier said that if Flintoff is not allowed to participate in the IPL tournament, it will not weaken ECB’s relations with the organisers. He stressed that there are injury provisions in both sides of the contracts.
