Sam Billings to play IPL despite being named Kent skipper

Sam Billings was bought by CSK in the IPL mega auction and much to the delight of the CSK fans, Billings will be available for the entirety of the IPL despite being named as the skipper of the Kent County side for the upcoming county season.

Billings now would miss the first 2 months of the county season, something that won’t go down very well with the Kent fans, who would have been looking forward to seeing Billing lead their side.

The English international will join Mark Wood at CSK, both of whom are huge parts of England’s limited overs setup.

And while the Canterbury fans would be upset with Billings’ decision, he feels that the IPL experience would make him a better player in the limited overs format.

Billings wanted England fans to know that he was making this conscious decision not because of the cash but because he feels the IPL would help him improve as a cricketer.

“The changing face of the world of cricket is moving rapidly and people need to be aware that these opportunities do not come up often and you can’t afford to miss the IPL.

“If the Test captain is putting his name in the hat then surely people have to wake up and see ‘ok, maybe we need to take it on board’. It’s not just pajama cricket and blokes wanting to chase the cash. I think the problem with people at the moment is that they have this idea of the IPL and these other tournaments but we wouldn’t be playing in them if they weren’t improving us as cricketers.” Billings said.

The CSK fans would be happy to see such commitment from a foreign player and would be hoping that Billings could win a few games for them.

The IPL is scheduled to begin on the 7th of April, with Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings set to lock horns at the Wankhede.