'Declined an IPL offer when I was in West Indies' - Saqib Mahmood keen on pushing his England Test credentials

England’s Saqib Mahmood declined an offer to play at the Indian Premier League and opted to play a first-class game for Lancashire in the County Championship. The 25-year-old cricketer had an opportunity to play at the IPL and enter the league as a replacement overseas player, but he wanted to push his red-ball game and improve in that aspect.

Mahmood made his Test debut for England against the West Indies team during the recently concluded series and went on to pick four wickets in the match. At the completion of the tour, he had six wickets to his name at 22.83 as he swayed his team members with his skills with the old ball.

“I turned down an IPL offer just to be here playing for Lancashire and try to push my red-ball credentials. I got an offer while we were out in the Caribbean and it was a decision I had to make,” Mahmood said, at a press conference at Emirates Old Trafford.

“I spoke to a couple of the guys around me and felt as though it was in my best interests at the moment to focus on red-ball cricket. Hopefully, that can highlight my ambition to play Test cricket and to give myself the best chance to do that by performing here for Lancashire,” he added.

Ben Stokes had a role to play in Mahmood’s decision

Saqib Mahmood said that he had arrived at the decision after a discussion with his teammate Ben Stokes, who opted out of the cash-rich event this season ahead of the auction, but he did not name the team that gave him the offer.

“That was my choice. It was funny because it came from a conversation I had with Stokesy over breakfast one morning. I got talking to him about why he didn’t go to the IPL and he said he wanted to prioritize red-ball cricket and be a part of the squad moving forward,” Mahmood added.

He said that coincidently, he had received a call on the same day and was offered a place at the IPL, but after his heavy discussion with Stokes, he was more inclined towards the Test format of the game, and not the franchise cricket and as a result, let go of the offer to play county cricket.