'Punjab will go down drastically' - Former Indian Cricketer believes Punjab will be most affected team if England players leave early in Indian T20 League 2023

England’s Test team skipper Ben Stokes recently hinted that the English players might leave the Indian T20 League 2023 early to practice well for the Test against Ireland and also prepare before the Ashes 2023 series in the summer. Many English players were signed by the cash-rich league’s franchises and now it might make a huge impact on their squads.

Meanwhile, former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra believes that the Punjab-based franchise will be the most affected team as they have the most no. of English players. Star allrounder Sam Curran became the most expensive buy ever in the Indian T20 League history as Punjab bought him for INR 18.50 cr, and if Curran opts to go before the season ends, the franchise will surely look weak.

"If all of these (contracted England Test) players decide to leave, it could be a problem. Punjab will be at the biggest loss because they have the most English players - Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, and Jonny Bairstow. If all three go, the team will go down drastically." Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.

"Sam Curran was very expensive. Liam Livingstone and Jonny Bairstow are important parts of Punjab's plans. The team can suddenly become very weak if both of them are not there because you didn't keep a backup for them," he added.

They spent a lot of money on Harry Brook: Aakash Chopra

Indian T20 League 2023 is scheduled to start on March 31 and will end on May 28, while the English home summer begins with the Test against Ireland on June 1, followed by the Ashes series starting from June 16.

Chopra also talked about the Hyderabad-based franchise and said they can play South African wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen in place of England’s aggressive batter Harry Brook. However, Klassen can’t match Brook’s destruction level, but still, he can play some crucial knocks. Hyderabad spent a lot of money on Brook so they might not want him to leave early.

"If we talk about Harry Brook, Hyderabad have Heinrich Klaasen also, but they spent a lot of money on Harry Brook. They have some lower-order batting but they will not want to let him go."