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England batsman Hales: 'Glad the door shut on me in the IPL'

Having received his maiden call-up in the England ODI squad, hard-hitting batsman Alex Hales feels that the IPL snub he received in the last edition of the tournament helped him turn into a better player.

In 2013, Nottinghamshire refused to release him for the IPL while in the seventh season Hales was not picked by any of the franchises.

"Had I got picked up in the IPL who knows whether we would have been having this conversation now," Hales told the Daily Telegraph in an interview.

"I am almost glad that the door shut on me in the IPL and it has given me the chance to work hard on my four-day game. Had I gone to India it would have all been T20 and whacking the ball rather than technique and building and compiling innings," Hales said.

Hales said that playing Test cricket for England was a priority.

"After the Big Bash, I had a lot of time away to think about four-day cricket and discover that hunger for runs again and building an innings and working hard on my technique. I'm really happy that I have reaped the rewards this year."

Part of that thinking would have been driven by the disappointment of not winning a contract in the Indian Premier League, almost unheard of for a player in the top three of the international T20 batting rankings.