Morgan puts himself up for IPL auction

Having missed out on a year’s action in the Indian Premier League to enhance his Test prospects, Eoin Morgan has once again enrolled himself for the auction to be able to play in the 2015 edition of the cash-rich league. Bangalore will host the latest auction on February 16.

“Yeah, I will be in the IPL auction this year, and hopefully I will be picked up,” said England’s ODI captain on the eve of his side’s virtual tri-series semifinal against India here.

Morgan, whose base price has been set at Rs 1.5 crore, said his participation will not affect England as only the Test players won’t be able to play the BCCI-run league because of their series against the West Indies.

His diminishing Test hopes are precisely the reasons why the hard-hitting southpaw, who will be one of the most sought after overseas picks, chose to revive his IPL career.    

“I think they’ve been scaled down a bit probably since the start of our summer,” Morgan answered when asked about his Test ambitions.

“I suppose the opportunity I gave myself in missing the IPL last year and potential carrot of the end of the road was… I think it was the three positions available at the start of our summer, and I didn’t manage to get any of them. So since then it has been scaled down a bit. The ambition still is to play Test cricket, absolutely, but given where I’m at the moment, I think the IPL is the best thing for me,” he explained.

Morgan also advised his fellow English cricketers to join the rest of the world in their attitude towards T20 leagues.  

“I think it’s nice to have one ear to the ground, both playing Big Bash and potentially IPL,” Morgan said while talking about the benefits of playing in private T20 leagues.

“It’s very useful because again, cricket is changing so much at the moment. It’s nice to have new fresh ideas. And again, opportunity not only for myself but for other English cricketers to go and play, I think they should take it with both hands.”