England batsman Banton responds after Vaughan tells him to withdraw from IPL

Tom Banton insists he will not withdraw from the Indian Premier League after Michael Vaughan urged the England batsman to prioritise first-class cricket over the Twenty20 format.

Banton, 21, signed a £108,000 deal with Kolkata Knight Riders for the 2020 IPL but Vaughan suggested he would instead be better served playing for Somerset in the County Championship.

‘I have seen enough of Banton to know he is a superstar in the making,’ former England captain Vaughan wrote in a column for Telegraph Sport.

‘I’m not sure a stint in the IPL right now, when he might not get a lot of game time, is what he needs at this stage of his career.

‘The IPL can wait. He has plenty of time to go to India. He needs to play four-day cricket and score some early hundreds.’

But Banton, who made his international debut in November, says he will be fulfilling a childhood dream when he plays in the Indian Premier League.

Asked if he still intended to play in the IPL, which starts on March 29, Banton said: ‘Yes, 100 per cent.

‘When I was growing up, the IPL was definitely something I thought I’d love to do and play for England in Test cricket as well.’

Banton is regarded as the most exciting English white-ball batsman of his generation and scored 549 runs at a strike rate of over 160 in last summer’s T20 Blast.

The Somerset star also impressed during his recent stint at Australian Big Bash side Brisbane Heat, scoring the second-fastest half-century in the history of the tournament.

Banton is expected to be part of England’s squad for the T20 World Cup at the end of the year and hopes a productive run at the IPL boosts his international prospects.

‘Definitely, I’d love to be part of the World Cup,’ Banton added.

‘The white-ball team seems so strong at the moment but I’d love to go. We’ve got the IPL coming up so some strong performances there are going to help.’