'BCCI is currently ruling cricket' - Salman Butt on eight NZ players opting for IPL instead of Pakistan tour

New Zealand is set to tour Pakistan for a limited-overs series starting on September 17, just two days before the second half of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) which is set to be held in the UAE. The bilateral series is historic in a sense as the Blackcaps will be touring Pakistan after 18 years, albeit with the top eight New Zealand players giving it a miss due to IPL.

Players like Kane Williamson, Kyle Jamieson, Trent Boult, Mitchell Santner, Tim Siefert, and James Neesham will not play the white-ball matches in Pakistan. The news of the said players opting to play IPL has not gone too well as few Pakistani experts like Inzamam-ul-Haq and Salman Butt felt that the series may not be up to the standards.

Cricketer-turned-expert felt Salman Butt spoke about the same issue on his YouTube channel of how the BCCI has the power and are ruling cricket. He also said how IPL is the biggest league in the world and all players are keen to participate in it.

“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.

Pakistan should convincingly beat New Zealand: Salman Butt

Butt concluded by saying that with the eight top New Zealand players missing, Pakistan should fancy their chances of beating the Kiwis easily. He further opined that foreign players opting to play IPL rather than international cricket is a bad trend.

“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,” Butt said.

Pakistan will play three ODIs and five T20Is against New Zealand. The visitors will be led by Tom Latham.