Pakistan national team legend Inzamam-ul-Haq has slammed the apex body – ICC for allowing players to prioritize IPL, leaving Pakistan to play against second-string teams.
“Wherever the Pakistan team is playing, they are not getting an opportunity to compete with the top players. When we went to South Africa in April, they sent their players for the IPL. With the upcoming NZ series in Pakistan, eight NZ players have opted out of the tour to play IPL,”
“I feel that the Pakistan team is not getting proper practice because they are not getting to play against the top players. What is the ICC doing? What message are they trying to give? Players giving more importance to private leagues over international cricket is like degrading international cricket,”
said Inzamam.
He also urged the Pakistan Cricket Board to file an official complaint to the ICC regarding this issue for the sake of international cricket. Inzamam added that appropriate action should be taken against the players who prioritize private leagues.
The Indian Premier League usually gets its own window in the cricket calendar, where most of the other boards do not schedule any cricket action and allow their players to participate in the cash-rich tournament. There have been instances where the players have left tours midway or rested themselves from international matches for the tournament.
In June, most of the English IPL players were rested were rested by the ECB against New Zealand. The Australian cricketers, who played in the IPL, opted out of the recent West Indies and Bangladesh tours due to bio-bubble fatigue.
Earlier in April, a few South Africa cricketers left a home series against Pakistan midway to join the IPL. The tournament was suspended midway and the second phase is set to take place in the UAE in September-October, for which IPL-bound NZ players will be unavailable for their Zlimited overs tours to Pakistan and Bangladesh.
