India put the IPL before Test cricket and set a dangerous precedent: Paul Newman

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has been put under major scrutiny time and again by many former England cricketers. It is a known fact that most of the England veterans weren't fond of the T20 extravaganza and have often blamed it for the players' poor performance in the international circuit. 

Former England cricketer Paul Newman was the latest to join the bandwagon. The veteran accused the Indian players of prioritizing the Indian Premier League over the purest format of the game. His remarks came in the view of the 5th rescheduled match between India and England.

The one-off Test match will be conducted at the Edgbaston in Birmingham from July 01 to July 05. The game was originally scheduled to be completed in September last year at the Old Trafford as it forms a part of the five-match Test series that kickstarted last year.

However, the game was postponed after a number of positive coronavirus cases in the Indian camp. Following the postponement of the match, the Indian players travelled to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to participate in the Indian Premier League 2021.

The situation had left many veterans in England unhappy. Ahead of the 5th Test, Paul Newman put the blame on the Indian team for deliberately postponing the match last year for the sake of the Indian T20 league. 

"The arrival of India to complete a Test series that should have ended at Old Trafford last summer is a reminder of how they let down the paying public and Test cricket by pulling out of the final game on the morning of the match.

It was laughable when the cancellation was blamed on Covid concerns, and a game India never wanted to play was abandoned when they put the IPL before Test cricket and set a dangerous precedent," Paul wrote in his column for The Daily Mail UK.

This is not the first time that IPL has been blamed for the things happening in the England cricket fraternity. Earlier this year, former England skipper Dawid Gower had blamed the T20 league for the poor performance of their players in Ashes 2021-22.

England lost the Ashes by 2021-22. In an interview, Gower had said that participating in IPL hampered the performance of English players in the longest format.