'Money talks at the end of the day' - Mark Butcher on BCCI's planning of hosting the remainder of IPL 2021

The 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was suspended for an indefinite time on May 4 after four cricket players, namely Varun Chakravarthy, Sandeep Warrier, Wriddhiman Saha, and Amit Mishra rested positive for coronavirus. The suspension of IPL 2021 can cause a lot of financial problems to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). It is learned that the Indian Board can lose a whopping amount of INR 2500 crores.

Thus, to avoid the losses, BCCI is looking at other windows later in the year to conduct the remaining match of the league. Also, it is speculated that BCCI is considering the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Australia and England as potential venues for hosting the remainder of the T20 Championship. Former England batsman Mark Butcher opined on the matter saying that all the countries have a packed international schedule and it is nearly impossible for BCCI to adjust IPL 2021.

Also, India is scheduled to host the T20 World Cup later this year in October and November. Butcher believes that it will be extremely difficult to pave the way for the IPL as every team has their warm-up games and international tours scheduled before the ICC T20 World Cup.

Mark Butcher speaks about the packed international schedule before the World Cup

“My thinking is I don’t think you can (complete the IPL this year). The T20 World Cup will hopefully be in India in October. The Indian cricket team is going to be in England… June, July, August. All international sides will have their warm-ups, matches, tour etc. in preparation for the World Cup. And then the international calendar rolls on,” Mark Butcher told cricket.com

Further in the interaction, the veteran admitted that money plays a very important role and considering the money is at stake, it won’t be a surprise that BCCI somehow manages to complete the league. However, the Indian board is expected to face a lot of logistical challenges as the players will have to quarantine and they can’t just move from one place to another freely due to the ongoing situation.

“Money talks at the end of the day. But as I said, the rest of the international teams have got schedules and build-up to the World Cup. And you have to factor in that it isn’t about just flying in to play the matches. You have to quarantine when you get there and get back,” said Butcher, who played 71 Tests for England.

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