England white ball coach Matthew Mott believes the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will have "a huge bearing on the World Cup".
Following the conclusion of England's tour of Bangladesh, they are not scheduled to play another game of white ball cricket for almost six months ahead of their 50-over World Cup defence later this year.
In that time, England will have 14 players in action at the IPL and Mott believes the high level of quality in the tournament will help players prepare for the World Cup, which is also being held in India in October.
"The IPL has a huge bearing on the World Cup," Mott said. "The IPL in particular is renowned as one of the best competitions in the world, you've got all the best players playing in those conditions.
"We'll be watching really closely how our guys go. It's a long time before our next game, there's a lot of opportunities for players to put their hands up.
"We know it's going to be an incredibly hard 15 to pick. There will be a lot of players disappointed in that group because once they're all fit, it's going to be hard to squeeze them all in."
Sam Curran is set to represent Punjab Kings after becoming the most expensive player in IPL history when they paid a whopping £1.85m for his services. He is set to be joined at the Kings by England teammates Liam Livingstone and Jonny Bairstow, provided the latter is back from injury in time.
England Test captain Ben Stokes will represent the Chennai Super Kings alongside Moeen Ali, while Phil Salt will play for the Delhi Capitals, Mark Wood will feature for Lucknow Super Giants and Jofra Archer will turn out for Mumbai Indians.
White ball skipper Jos Buttler will be joined at Rajasthan Royals by Joe Root, with Harry Brook and Adil Rashid representing Sunrisers Hyderabad, and David Willey and Reece Topley set to be in action for Royal Challengers Bangalore. Will Jacks was set to join Willey and Topley at RCB, but has been ruled out after suffering a thigh injury against Bangladesh.
