Eleven English players have featured in IPL 2024, but only one has a chance of playing in the final week of the competition.
Those in England’s T20 World Cup squad have departed to participate in a warm-up series against Pakistan, while two of the other three have been knocked out. Raghav Khanna takes a look at how those players got on.
How England’s players got on in IPL 2024
Jos Buttler – RR
11 matches, 359 runs @ 39.89, SR: 140.78, HS: 107*
The England captain had a feast or famine season, averaging a tick under 40 but passing fifty just twice. He extended each of those knocks to centuries, including a chase-sealer to rank among the format’s great innings. Buttler’s strike rate was also below his usual standards, especially given the elevated scoring rate seen in this year’s IPL.
Jonny Bairstow – PK
11 matches, 298 runs @ 29.80, SR: 152.82, HS: 108*
Bairstow also had an up-and-down season, albeit with one fewer peak than Buttler’s. He also scored a match-winning hundred in a chase, but that was his only fifty-plus score. However, England will be encouraged by his impressive strike rate even when not going big.
Phil Salt – KKR
12 matches, 435 runs @ 39.55, SR: 182.01, HS: 89*
A few weeks before the IPL started, Salt was preparing for a block of County Championship action with Lancashire, having been let go by Delhi Capitals last year and with no bidders for him at the auction. But, picked up by KKR as a replacement for Jason Roy, he had a stunning campaign, forging a blistering opening partnership with Sunil Narine, the pair dovetailing to take down pace and spin with equal brutality.
Moeen Ali – CSK
8 matches, 128 runs @ 25.60, SR: 130.61, HS: 56
2 wickets @ 35.50, ER: 8.88, BBI: 2-23
Moeen struggled for impact with both bat and ball as CSK failed to make it to the playoffs. With only a select few to be retained ahead of a mega-auction, it is likely he will be let go, and given he will be 37 when he goes back under the hammer, there is no guarantee he will be picked up for 2025.
Sam Curran – PK
13 matches, 270 runs @ 27.00, SR: 123.29, HS: 63
16 wickets @ 26.00, ER: 10.15, BBI: 3-28
Captaining the Punjab Kings side in Shikhar Dhawan’s absence, Curran had a passable season as an all-rounder, but couldn’t stop his side from finishing second from bottom. Batting largely at No.4, he made two match-winning half-centuries, but did not much else of note with the bat, and his bowling got better as the tournament went on.
Will Jacks – RCB
8 matches, 230 runs @ 32.86, SR: 175.57, HS: 100*
2 wickets @ 50.00, ER: 11.11, BBI: 1-23
Jacks injected life into the RCB campaign, his introduction to the side coinciding in a remarkable charge from bottom in the table into the playoffs. Most strikingly, he took down Rashid Khan for 28 off five balls to reach his maiden IPL century and seal a stunning victory in one blow, with Virat Kohli in disbelief at the other end. Jacks’ bench-warming days in the IPL are surely over.
Liam Livingstone – PK
7 matches, 111 runs @ 22.20, SR: 142.31, HS: 38*
3 wickets @ 28.00, ER: 7.00, BBI: 2-19
The Englishman got injured part-way through the IPL and there was little of note before he was ruled out. Given England’s plethora of all-round options, the battle is on for a starting spot at the T20 World Cup.
Reece Topley – RCB
4 matches, 4 wickets @ 42.00, ER: 11.20, BBI: 2-27
Topley struggled in an unsettled RCB bowling lineup and was dropped as a result. He bowled well against Rajasthan Royals, dismissing Jaiswal early and getting Dhruv Jurel at the death, with a low economy of 6.75, but struggled elsewhere.
Luke Wood – MI
2 matches, 1 wicket @ 93.00, ER: 15.50, BBI: 1-68
Luke Wood struggled for game time, with Gerald Coetzee and Nuwan Thushara, Mumbai Indians’ preferred overseas pace options, and when he did play he proved expensive. In Mumbai Indians’ opening game against Gujarat Titans, he conceded 25 from two overs in a game where a target of 169 to win was successfully defended. In his second, he was on the wrong end of a Jake Fraser-McGurk assault, conceding 68 from four overs. However, as always, his hair was immaculate.
Richard Gleeson – CSK
2 matches, 1 wicket @ 71.00, ER: 9.06, BBM: 1-30
Gleeson was signed as an injury replacement for Devon Conway but in reality served as a backup for Mustafizar Rahman, who left to play for Bangladesh mid-way through the IPL. He looked lively with the new ball in his first match but was dropped for Maheesh Theekshana after his second game for the men in yellow.
Tom Kohler-Cadmore – RR
1 match, 18 runs @ 18.00, SR: 78.26, HS: 18
Tom Kohler-Cadmore came into the Rajasthan Royals XI for their final group game as a replacement for Buttler, but couldn’t get going. He may yet feature in the playoffs, and did at least turn heads with his Q-Collar, an innovative safety device which aims to prevent brain injury.
