Peter Handscomb, the Australian batsman who had a magnificent beginning to his international career in 2016, has decided to snub the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017 auction as he wants to play for English country side Yorkshire. The 25-year-old top-order batsman has prioritised testing his skills in the English conditions over the slam-bang summer cricket tournament in India. The auction is set to be held in Bengaluru in February.
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Handscomb, who averages 99.75 in four Tests at the moment with two tons against Pakistan in the recently concluded series, was part of the Rising Pune Supergiants in the IPL last year but did not get much of a chance and could score just six runs for a team which finished second last in the tournament. This year, the man has decided not to be part of it at all.
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The Supergiants also released a number of foreign players besides Handscomb, like Kevin Pietersen, Thisara Perera, Albie Morkel, Scot Boland and George Bailey.
But why did Handscomb take a decision which seemed at odds with the era to which he belongs?
"I've just started to figure out that I'm a bit more suited to the longer form of the game. I still enjoy playing Twenty20 cricket but I saw that IPL experience as a chance to get over there and practice in those conditions and try and figure out how to play spin in India," yorkpress.co.uk quoted Handscomb as saying.
"So this year, when the opportunity has arisen to play county cricket, I thought I'd be silly not to take it and learn how to play in those conditions. It's a great opportunity to go and learn how to play in English conditions and to talk to some quality English players in the Yorkshire side and try and find out how they go about it in their conditions."
The man will certainly be one of Australia's top hopes during their upcoming tour of India before the IPL as well as the Ashes to be played Down Under later this year.
However, it is not known if the player, who is yet to play limited overs cricket for Australia, would have been picked by any franchise in the auction. If some teams had outlined him as one of the foreigners for the upcoming edition, they need to redraw their plans.
