James Neesham trolled for choosing IPL over National duty; the all-rounder gives a fitting reply
James Neesham
The New Zealand cricket players including the likes of Kane Williamson, Trent Boult, Kyle Jamieson, and James Neesham are facing severe backlash on social media. Many cricket fans believe that the aforementioned have prioritized the Indian Premier League (IPL) over the National duty.
New Zealand is touring Bangladesh for a five-match T20I series followed by a limited-overs tour to Pakistan comprising three One Day Internationals and five T20 Internationals. Interestingly, the Black Caps have fielded a second-string team for the Asia tour with the wicketkeeper-batsman Tom Latham donning the skipper hat.
It is speculated that the move is inspired by the fact that a handful of first-choice Kiwi cricketers will be flying to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to participate in the second phase of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League. IPL 2021 initially kickstarted on April 9.
However, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was forced to postpone the league after hosting 29 matches due to the covid-19 scare. The remainder of the T20 Championship will now be played from September 19 to October 15 across three venues namely Dubai, Sharjah, and Abu Dhabi.
James Neesham issues a clarification for participating in IPL 2021
Upset with the New Zealand players for choosing IPL over Bangladesh and Pakistan tour, a troller brutally slammed the all-rounder James Neesham on Twitter. Neesham is an active cricket personality on Twitter and keeps interacting with the fans now and then. Thus, the all-rounder took note of the hate tweet that read, “Shame on you. Skipped national duties for Money.”
Neesham is the kind of person who knows how to tackle the trolls and the haters well. Therefore, the cricketer finally decided to come clean on the controversial matter. The Kiwi star revealed that it was entirely New Zealand Cricket’s decision to not send any main player for the Asia tour.
“I’m getting a lot of messages like this so I want to be crystal clear. It is an NZ Cricket player welfare policy that first-choice players aren’t on this tour. I made a request for an exemption but that request was denied,” James Neesham tweeted.
Notably, the all-rounder will be plying his trade for defending champions Mumbai Indians in the T20 competition.
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Sakshi Jain
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