London, Feb. 4 : England all-rounder Paul Collingwood has defended his decision to play in the IPL at the start of the Ashes summer.

Collingwood, who has a reserve price of 175,000 pounds in Friday's auction, knows he could risk injury or burn-out in the quest for big bucks. But he insists the money and desire to play Twenty20 cricket against the best in the world outweigh those fears.

The auction is due to start in Goa at 5 a. m. UK time.

Collingwood said: "I think I might be awake! I'm excited to be involved. I saw the auction last year on TV and it looks a real spectacle.

"From a players' point of view, you want to be in the best tournaments and there's no doubt the IPL is one of the best. It is also a chance to earn a few bucks, I'm not going to hide away from that. I'm 32 and have only a small window to earn these amounts. So you won't turn down these opportunities," The Sun quoted him, as saying. (ANI)