Sam Billings, the England wicketkeeper, will not participate in the 2023 Indian Premier League

Sam Billings, a wicketkeeper-batsman for England, made the announcement on Monday that he would not be participating in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 in order to concentrate on longer formats of the game at the beginning of the English summer with county Kent.

In the beginning of this year, he was acquired by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the mega auction, and he went on to play eight matches for the team, scoring 169 runs at an average of 24.14, with his top score being 36. His highest score was also his highest IPL score.

Using Twitter as his platform, Sam Billings wrote: “Have made the difficult choice that I will not be participating in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League with KKRiders. At the beginning of the English summer, I’m hoping to put more of my focus on lengthier forms of the game of cricket with @kentcricket.”

In another tweet, he stated the following: “I am incredibly grateful to have this opportunity, @kkriders. I cherished each and every second of it. An incredible company staffed by a few exceptionally bright individuals. I hope to run across you again sometime in the future.”

Billings has participated in 30 matches throughout his IPL career, earning a total of 503 runs at an average score of 19.35, with his top performance being 56.

The right-handed hitter has competed in the Indian Premier League for a variety of teams, including Delhi Daredevils, Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, and Kolkata Knight Riders.

Billings has only recently begun to receive opportunities to play for England in their test lineup. Under the direction of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, the team’s head coach, Billings has been given these opportunities.

He is frequently chosen to serve as the second wicketkeeper after Ben Foakes on the team.

The next Test match that England is scheduled to play is against Pakistan. As part of the World Test Championship, England will go to Pakistan to compete in all three of the country’s matches.