Karachi, Apr 19: Two former Pakistan cricket captains Javed Miandad and Wasim Akram have flayed the BCCI-initiated Indian Premier League (IPL), saying it will damage the international cricket’s calendar.

They said that international cricketers might even sacrifice their international career to play in IPL for the sake of money.

Miandad said that when the International Cricket Council (ICC) had decided to host the Twenty20 World Championship every alternate year, there was no room for a private league.

“The IPL has already started hurting the international calendar and in the long run it will encourage more private parties and organisations to come in and start their own leagues if they have big money to roll,” the Dawn quoted Miandad as saying.

He said the IPL would create a divide in international cricket and feared players would be willing to sacrifice their international careers to play for more money in the league. “People are comparing the IPL with the Kerry Packer series in the late ‘70s. But these are two totally different things. The Packer series was held when players were paid ridiculously low wages,” added Miandad.

Wasim also raised an alarm in a TV interview, saying that the IPL could prove to be a negative distraction for international players as they could end up preferring to play in private leagues than for their national teams. (ANI)