Saqib Mehmood reveals why he did not accept IPL offer

England’s bowler Saqib Mehmood has talked about why he turned down the golden opportunity coming his way to participate in the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2022). The pacer revealed that he prioritizes his country over franchise cricket and wishes to polish his red-ball cricket skills, hence, he decided to reject the IPL offer.

Saqib made his Test debut for England in the recently coiled-up series versus the West Indies. The hosts defeated the guests by 1-0. The 25-year old was not the part of the inaugural match of the series, however, playing the next two games, he closed the journey with six wickets averaging 22.8 at an economy of 2.24.

He disclosed that he got an IPL offer when the team was out for the West Indies tour. The bowler added he discussed the decision with his mate, Ben Stokes, who also rejected the IPL offer and did not appear in the mega-auction following the team’s horrible Ashes defeat by 4-0. Following Stoke’s decision to put national duties first, Saqib was more inclined to reject the IPL offer.

Mehmood also disclosed that Stokes and he got the offers on the same day. However, he did not reveal the team name that called him during the Caribbean tour.

His statements read,

I turned down an IPL offer just to be here playing for Lancashire and try to push my red-ball credentials. I got an offer while we were out in the Caribbean and it was a decision I had to make,”

“I spoke to a couple of the guys around me and felt as though it was in my best interests at the moment to focus on red-ball cricket. Hopefully, that can highlight my ambition to play Test cricket and to give myself the best chance to do that by performing here for Lancashire,”

“That was my choice. It was funny because it came from a conversation I had with Stokesy over breakfast one morning. I got talking to him about why he didn’t go to the IPL and he said he wanted to prioritize red-ball cricket and be a part of the squad moving forward,”