Salman Butt confident that BCCI will find a way to rope in foreign players for IPL 2021

Former Pakistan opener Salman Butt has said that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will try its level best to bring back foreign players to participate in the second leg of IPL 2021 that is scheduled to be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in September-October.

The BCCI as well as the IPL Governing Council had no choice but to indefinitely postpone the IPL 2021 with immediate effect on May 4  due to a surge in COVID-19 cases in India.

Meanwhile, it has also been learned that many foreign players are set to give the second leg of IPL 2021  a miss due to a packed international calendar.

'I think they will find a way': Salman Butt

"I think they will find a way. They will create a window where people will be available. A few players might not be there but because it is the premier event of this format, they will somehow make a window for it", said Salman Butt while interacting on his YouTube channel.

Commenting on the tournament's huge impact and the BCCI's might, the southpaw added that the national cricket board at the moment has the muscle and therefore, there is a greater chance of the BCCI looking to rope in foreign players for taking part in the remainder of the tournament.

Foreign players availability in IPL 2021

As of now, England and Bangladesh players have been prohibited from taking part in the rescheduled IPL 2021. Last week, Ashley Giles, the managing director of the England men's team had made it clear that the English players will be rested during the second leg of the mega event and they would not be allowed to go and play cricket elsewhere since they have a full schedule that includes the T20 World Cup and the Ashes. 

Even Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has refrained veteran all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and frontline pacer Mustafizur Rahman from taking part in the tournament. Meanwhile, there are no clarifications from Cricket Australia (CA) as of now.

The list of foreign players in IPL 2021

The overseas players who had participated in the IPL 2021 prior to its temporary suspension included the likes of David Warner, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Pat Cummins, Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Rashid Khan, Ben Stokes, Eoin Morgan, Jonny Bairstow, Trent Boult, Kane Williamson, etc.