I had an offer but I'm available for IPL 2020 once the T20 Blast finishes: David Willey

England’s bowling all-rounder David Willey opened up about his availability for the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League which is slated to begin from September 19, with the final to take place on November 10 across three venues namely Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. The cricketer revealed that he has been offered a contract by an IPL franchise but had turned it down for playing in England’s domestic tournament, T20 Blast.

The final round of T20 Blast fixtures will take place on September 20 with the final of the tournament scheduled for October 3 and David will have to miss a significant part of the starting matches of Indian T20 league as after arriving in UAE he will have to serve a mandatory six-day quarantine period as per the SOPs laid out by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Speaking to Yorkshire Post, the left-armer reckoned that he wants to lead his team Yorkshire Vikings in the 2020 edition of the T20 Blast and has informed the franchise who has offered him a contract that he will be available after England’s domestic fixture ends. Though Willey has not revealed the name of the IPL Team which has offered him to play for them.

“I had an offer. The problem is there’s a crossover with the Blast and the IPL, so I said I’m available from when the Blast finishes. I want to captain Yorkshire in the Blast and see that through, so if there’s an opportunity that comes after that (IPL), great. There may still be opportunities which I’m open to,” the all-rounder said as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.

Willey’s stint in IPL has not been good so far. He was picked by Chennai Super Kings for the 2018 edition but featured in only three matches picking up two wickets. Further, CSK had retained him for the 2019 edition but the cricketer had to pull out from the cash-rich league due to personal reasons.

David Willey to feature in Australia’s Big Bash League?

Further in the discussion, the 30-year-old revealed that he is also in discussion with some team’s in Australia’s Big Bash League but is unlikely to accept the offer unless he is allowed to travel with his family. The cricketer is not ready to be away from his family for this long period of time while due to the coronavirus outbreak there are travel restrictions in Australia.

“Again, there’s been a bit of interest there,” he said. “But the issue for me there will be family travel. I’m not willing to spend that long away from my family. If that changes, I’ll bite someone’s hand off to get over and play, play any of the franchise cricket really, but it’s just weighing everything up,” David added.

Willey has been dealing some disappointment lately as despite being the Player of the Series in Ireland tour of England by taking 8 wickets and scoring 98 runs in the three-match ODI series, the all-rounder was not picked for Australia tour of England which comprised of three-match ODI and T20 series.