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Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt has claimed that top cricketers preferring the Indian Premier League (IPL) over national duty is becoming a trend.
New Zealand’s key players, including skipper Kane Williamson, Trent Boult, Kyle Jamieson and Lockie Ferguson, won’t be part of the white-ball tours of Pakistan and Bangladesh. All of them have IPL commitments and will turn out for their respective franchises when the T20 league begins on September 19.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Butt said that while cricketers should ideally give preference to playing for the country over T20 leagues, that is obviously not the case. He opined:
“I am of the firm belief that if your national team is playing somewhere, you should represent the country irrespective of whether IPL or any other league is being held at that time. But yes, lately cricketers leaving national duty for IPL is becoming a trend. Players are even leaving series’ midway. However, it is a fact that monetary-wise IPL is a very big league and the BCCI also has a lot of clout in the ICC so they also cannot do anything about it.”
Butt added that another reason for New Zealand players choosing the IPL instead of the Pakistan series could be because the T20 World Cup is also going to be held in the UAE. He stated:
“Look, the T20 World Cup is also being held in the UAE. So the top players (from New Zealand) would prefer playing there to prepare for the event.”
The T20 World Cup in the UAE will kick-off immediately after the conclusion of the IPL. While the IPL 2021 final will be held on October 15, the T20 World Cup will begin on October 17.
"No one could have predicted that the IPL would be postponed" - Salman Butt
The former Pakistan captain pointed out that most top nations don’t organize series’ to allow their players to feature in the IPL. However, this time the event got postponed due to COVID and the schedule went haywire. Butt said:
“There is no doubt that IPL is not like any other league. And, apart from Pakistan, top players from all the other countries feature in it. Only few lower-ranked sides organise cricket tournaments when the IPL is taking place. The major nations have actually created a window for IPL so that their players can take part in the tournament.”
Butt concluded:
“Because of COVID, IPL got postponed and will now be played in the UAE. Otherwise, the tournament would have been over by now and there would have been no such issues. As per the contracts, cricket boards have to send their players to the IPL. So that stands. No one could have predicted that the IPL would be postponed and shifted to the UAE.”
Tom Latham will lead New Zealand in the absence of Williamson on the tours of Pakistan and Bangladesh.
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