Eoin Morgan, the former England captain, said that he felt it would have been beneficial for them to stay at the tournament. Will Jacks and Reece Topley (Royal Challengers Bangalore), Phil Salt (Kolkata Knight Riders) and Buttler (Rajasthan Royals) have all missed knockout games in the 100,000-seater stadium in Ahmedabad to return home.

Buttler, whose wife is expecting their third child imminently, said he was always planning to return home, but that the England management had decided to bring the rest back. The decision was made when the provisional squad – which has to be finalised by Saturday, and appears highly unlikely to see any changes – was named earlier this month.

“It’s really frustrating, we’ve had a good couple of days’ prep,” Buttler told Sky following the washout in Leeds. “Putting the England kit back on and playing cricket in England is amazing. It’s really disappointing not to be playing but there are three matches to look forward to.

“It’s a unique build-up [for a World Cup]. That’s why we felt it was good to get the players all together in this series here. My personal opinion is there should never be international cricket that clashes with the IPL. 

“But my first priority is being England captain and trying to prepare for a world tournament so I said to Keysy [Rob Key] I would definitely be coming back and he’s made the call on the rest of the players.”

It has become unusual for England matches, especially white-ball, to clash with the IPL but fixture congestion caused by the World Cup in the Caribbean and United States made it almost inevitable this year. 

In 2021, England allowed players to miss a two-Test series against New Zealand to play in the IPL but on this occasion decided they had little choice but to bring them home in order to prepare for the Caribbean following their debacle of a 50-over World Cup defence in India last year.

Jofra Archer’s long-awaited return to international cricket is now likely to take place at Edgbaston on Saturday. The teams will then move on to Cardiff and The Oval before flying to the Caribbean for the T20 World Cup, and some more agreeable weather. 

First T20 abandoned: As it did not happen…