Cricket / Mark Butcher says ECB not changing India Test series schedule to accommodate IPL 2021 a missed opportunity

Mark Butcher | Former opener Mark Butcher believes that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has been asked by the BCCI (Indian Cricket Board) to change the schedule of the Test series to accommodate the remaining matches of the IPL (Indian Premier League). The request should have been accepted as it would have given him the opportunity to include the top Indian players in his 'Hundred Tournament'.

The Indian board had informally requested to end the five-match Test series between India and England starting a week before August 4 to host the remaining matches of the IPL but received a favorable response from the ECB Not found Butcher said in the Wisden Cricket Weekly Podcast, "I would like to take a deep breath before I say something. I think we missed a very big chance. Butcher said that accepting the request allowed the ECB like Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni Top Indian cricketers could have the benefit of being included in their flagship project 'The Hundred Tournament'.

The 48-year-old former player, who has played 71 Tests for England, said, "The ECB is desperate for it (The Hundred). They should be too. They made big bets on The Hundred, but at every turn it seems that One big power is not allowing it to happen. He further said that the ECB had this opportunity for this. They should have told the BCCI that we will agree with a condition on finishing the Test series a week in advance. This condition That is, for three years from the 2022 season, we have the freedom to sign a three-year contract with Kohli, Dhoni or whatever Indian player wants to play in The Hundred.

The Hundred is a 100-ball-per-team match whose initial season was to be played last year, but was postponed due to the Kovid-19. Eight male and eight female teams will participate in it. Butcher said, "You had a chance to do something for the first time. Obviously, the BCCI will have a big loss due to lack of time for the remaining matches of the IPL. You (ECB) would have had a chance to say that the IPL is because of us." Is happening and in such a situation you could get something you need from them. " According to a BCCI official, the IPL will start in the UAE from 18 or 19 September and 10 double-header (two matches a day) matches will be played over the course of three weeks.