Ireland pacer Josh Little will not be part of the national team squad for the upcoming subcontinent tour. The Andrew Balbirnie-led team are scheduled to visit Sri Lanka and Bangladesh during the March-April window to play a full-fledged series. Little is currently representing the Pretoria Capitals in the inaugural SA20 league and will play for the Multan Sultans in the upcoming edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). He is also set to partake in the Indian Premier League (IPL) after becoming the first Irish player to land a contract in the cash-rich league. He was roped in by the Gujarat Titans (GT) during the mini-auction in December last year for ₹4.4 crore.
The 2023 IPL is reportedly slated to begin on April 1 and continue until the first week of June, before the World Test Championship (WTC) final. Noting that Ireland are expecting to have Little back among their ranks for the home series against Bangladesh in May, Balbirnie told Cricbuzz."We are going to miss him (Josh). He is not going to come here and play in the Bangladesh tour and he is not going to Sri Lanka for the Test tour and he will be back for Super League games against Bangladesh in May'' he said. "His opportunity to play in the IPL is really too good for him to turn down and it only helps Irish cricket I think that exposure. If he has a good IPL or PSL then those competitions will say well Ireland cricket must be going in the right direction. We wish him all the best and I watched him last night," he said. Ireland will kickstart their upcoming tour of Bangladesh with a three-match ODI series at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium. Ireland are also scheduled to play three T20Is at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium. The visitors then will conclude the series with a one-off Test at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
