The New Zealand Cricket Board’s decision to allow the national players to skip international cricket for the 2nd phase of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 hasn’t gone down well with a couple of former Pakistan captains. After Inzamam-ul-Haq lashed out at ICC, former captain Salman Butt has shared his take on the matter.
Butt, who played 33 Tests, 78 ODIs and 24 T20Is, took to his Youtube channel and opined that Pakistan is always targeted. As per Butt, the BCCI has the power and is ruling cricket.
“It’s a known fact that the IPL is the world’s biggest league. Interestingly, other than Pakistan players, all other cricketers will take part in the league. Major teams don’t play international cricket during IPL time. Now, Pakistan has a series with NZ during the IPL and eight NZ players have already opted out of the series to play in the IPL. The BCCI has the power and, they are ruling cricket currently,” Butt said.
“The current trend is that players are opting for IPL and not international cricket. That’s actually a very bad trend. Pakistan is only getting targeted always. Pakistan should convincingly defeat New Zealand so that their board will get to know the importance of top players’ absence in the squad.”
New Zealand are scheduled to have a long stay in Asia. The Black Caps will kick off the Asian tour with 5 T20Is against Bangladesh from September 1 to 10. Following the Bangladesh series, they will land in Pakistan after 18 years to play 3 ODIs and 5 T20Is in September-October.
NZ’s IPL-bound players will link up with the national team in the UAE before the start of the T20 World Cup. After the ICC event, NZ’s players will land in India for a T20I and Test series. Tom Latham, who isn’t part of the T20 World Cup squad, will be leading NZ against Bangladesh and Pakistan.
