Sam Billings, a wicketkeeper and batter for England, has withdrawn from the IPL 2023. Billings, who participated in the IPL 2022 with the Kolkata Knight Riders, stated he will play for his county team Kent in the County Championship because he is more interested in the longer format of the game.
"I've made the difficult choice that I won't participate in the upcoming IPL. At the start of the English summer, @kentcricket will be concentrating on longer-format cricket. Thank you so much, @kkriders, for the chance! I enjoyed every second of it. a fantastic franchise with some geniuses. I hope to speak with you again in the future "On Monday, Billings posted two tweets from his official account.
In the super auction held in preparation for the 2022 IPL season, Billings, 31 years old, was purchased by Kolkata for INR 2 crores. He participated in eight games as the two-time champions alternated between Sheldon Jackson, Baba Indrajith, and him for the position of wicketkeeper in the starting eleven.
Billings scored 169 runs in eight innings during IPL 2022, striking out at a strike rate of 122.46 and an average of 24.14. His best performance was a 36-ball innings against the Lucknow Super Giants in the season's final game, which Kolkata lost by by two runs despite mounting an incredible 211-run chase.
He not only made seven dismissals with the wicket-keeping gloves as Kolkata finished seventh on the ten-team points standings with just six victories out of 14 league games. Earlier this year, in the day-night Ashes Test in Hobart, Billings made a surprising Test debut against Australia.
Later, during the domestic summer, he participated in Test matches against both India and New Zealand. In preparation for the upcoming three-match ODI series against Australia, which begins on Thursday in Adelaide, Billings was recently recalled to England's ODI squad.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz and New Zealand pacer Lockie Ferguson were acquired by Kolkata earlier on Sunday from the IPL 2022 champion Gujarat Titans. In Billings' absence, Gurbaz, the Afghanistan wicketkeeper-batter who also bats first, may play a crucial role in their lineup.
Before the mini-auction leading up to IPL 2023 takes place on December 23 in Kochi, all ten IPL franchises must submit their list of retained players by November 15.