Legendary leg-spinner Shane Warne has once again lashed out at the England and Wales Cricket Board for preventing its centrally contracted players from featuring in the cash-rich Indian Premier League. He, however, said that it will be English all-rounder Andrew Flintoff the IPL teams will be after.

"It's a bit short-sighted to not let the players play," Warne, who captains Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, was quoted as saying to BBC Sport.

The 38-year-old leg-spinner added: "If the Poms don't want to play, well, so be it. It's still a good spectacle without them. But it would be better with them.

"Hopefully everyone gets their head out the sand and they allow their individuals to play and look at the bigger picture," Warne added.

"Andrew Flintoff is the one that everybody will be after," Warne said asking the ECB to relax its stance.

"He can bat and bowl, and in this competition I think it's very important to have those guys that can bat and bowl.

"Kevin Pietersen is obviously a wonderful player, so he would be handy in any side, but if we were chasing someone I think Andrew Flintoff would probably be one of the major people we'd be chasing," he said.