Heading into the IPL 2020 Auction, English wicket-keeper batsman Tom Banton was seen as one of the hottest commodities in the auction pool as teams like Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings had shown interest in the youngster.
The fans would know that if MI and CSK’s team management have shown interest in a player then that player is definitely special. Given that IPL clashes with the county matches, both franchises wanted to know if Banton would be available for the Indian T20 tournament.
As things turned out, the Englishman was available and he enrolled his name for the auction at a base price of 1 Crore INR. Since he did not have a good international record to back himself, his name came in the later rounds of the auction.
The franchises did not have much funds to invest in him as Kolkata Knight Riders stole him for a bargain deal of 1 Crore only. The right-handed batsman will play along with the likes of Shubman Gill, Andre Russell and Eoin Morgan in this year’s IPL.
He will definitely gain a lot of experience but former England Test captain, Michael Vaughan had different thoughts. He asked Banton to skip the IPL because as per Vaughan, England needed him more in Test cricket and a good performance in the county season would have helped him to secure his place in the Test team.
Banton did not reply him for a long time but recently, he broke his silence and had this to say about Vaughan’s statements.
“When I was growing up, the IPL was definitely something I thought I’d love to do and play for England in Test cricket as well.”
“Definitely, I’d love to be part of the T20 World Cup. The white-ball team seems so strong at the moment but I’d love to go. We’ve got the IPL coming up so some strong performances there are going to help.”
Hence, Banton shut Vaughan by saying that he wishes to play T20 World Cup for England later this year.
