BCCI hits back at Ian Botham for his remarks on IPL

Ian Botham had severe criticism for the IPL in his MCC Spirit of Cricket Lecture

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has lashed out at Sir Ian Botham for his criticism of the Indian Premier League (IPL) during his MCC Spirit of Cricket Lecture and suggested that Botham should check his facts before criticising the franchise-based T20 league.

“Let him get his facts correct first. He has asked how the other boards have allowed IPL to happen. The BCCI has distributed over ten million US dollars as compensation to the other cricket boards for allowing their players to play in the IPL,” BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel said.

This was in response to Botham querying: “How on earth did the IPL own the best players in the world for two months a year and not pay a penny to the boards who brought these players into the game?”

Botham also claimed that the IPL was “too powerful for the long-term good of the game” and adding that the League provides the “perfect opportunity for betting and therefore fixing” and “players are slaves to it”.

“I’m worried about the IPL. In fact, I fear it shouldn’t be there at all. It is changing the priorities of world cricket,” the 58-year-old former England captain had said in his lecture.

Patel, talking to PTI, didn’t forget reminding Botham of his own involvement in the T20 League which the tainted Allen Stanford dreamt of starting before ending up behind bars because of defrauding investors through a Ponzi scheme.

“I can still visualise the photo of Botham sitting in the front when Stanford went to England. And he has the temerity to talk about IPL. We don’t want his advice. We have enough top players like Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri, Kapil Dev and Rahul Dravid to advice us,” he remarked.

When asked about the possibility of Ravi Shastri’s tenure as Director of Cricket being extended till the ICC World Cup next year following a successful time in the ongoing ODI series, Patel, while thanking Shastri for his services, said that they won’t be taking any decision on the matter in the imminent future.

“It’s premature to talk about this. Let this ODI series be over first. He was very gracious to accede to the BCCI’s request when we approached him after the Test series. He said he was always there for India and Indian cricket and accepted it without any preconditions. We will certainly compensate him for whatever he has lost by way of not fulfilling his contract as a TV commentator and media columnist,” he revealed.