Karthik: "England hate The IPL"

The former Indian wicket-keeper batter, Dinesh Karthik, has blasted out on the debate between international cricket and the Indian Premier League (IPL), where he reckoned that England have found different ways, over the years, to hate the T20 franchise league.

The debate has been fresh for a long time as MO Bobat and Karthik joined the ‘Overlap Cricket’ podcast and discussed what the administrations would need to do in balancing the ways of playing the game.

What Karthik Said About England's IPL Attitude

Karthik, who has been part of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) side as the mentor, reckoned that England had been trying to find various reasons to hate the IPL. He accepted that even though people in England don’t enjoy it that much, the players would always enjoy the atmosphere.

Watch Dinesh Karthik's words on England hating IPL-

“Sadly, the players feel the heat (in the debate of IPL and international cricket). And England are getting to a point where, for some strange reason, they are finding reasons to hate the IPL, and I think it’s wrong. I know that it’s not followed tortiously in this part of the world, but the players do enjoy playing the tournament.” The Chennai-born expressed on the podcast.

“And I would like to feel that if you do ask the players, they would have a good time playing in it.” He reckoned.

The renowned commentator, David Lloyd, however, begged to differ as he felt that the IPL had been televised a lot in England and was being discussed among the fans.

“I am going to disagree there. I don’t think we dislike the IPL. Because we transmit it on TV, and it’s very well watched. There are loads of people that watch and talk about the IPL. I don’t think we criticize the IPL,” Lloyd revealed.

What the IPL vs international cricket debate is really about

The debate, for a long time, has been between the IPL and international cricket, whether a player who has contracted with the IPL franchise would come back to play for the national side once they resume the international assignment. For example, Jofra Archer, spending two months in India due to the IPL, missed the opening Test match at Lord’s in 2026 against New Zealand.

Meanwhile, the words from the IPL council have also been quite clear. It reckons that the IPL sides would always want their players to stay with them for the entire course of the competition, irrespective of whether they have been playing or not.

And at the end, it boils down to the administrators to make the schedule in such a way that both parties would be happy at the end.