Amid speculations that the ICC T20 World Cup, scheduled to be played in Australia later this year, might make way for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to stage the Indian Premier League (IPL) during the same time, Allan Border said that it would be “just a money grab”.

“(I’m) not happy with that. The world game should take precedence over local competition. So, the World T20, if that can’t go ahead, I don’t think the IPL can go ahead. I would question that decision — it’s just a money grab, isn’t it, that one?” Border said in ABC’s Grandstand Cafe radio program as quoted by PTI.

“The World T20 should take precedence, for sure. The home boards should stop their players going to the IPL if that’s the case,” the former Australian captain added.

Like major sporting events across the globe, all forms of professional cricket have come to standstill and a dark cloud of uncertainty looms over the fate of the T20 World Cup as well.

The tournament, scheduled to be held from October 18 to November 15 at the Down Under, is facing a serious threat also because the Australian government has banned the entry of all kinds of foreigners till at least September 30.

The IPL 2020, which was scheduled to be played from March 29 was earlier postponed to April 15 before it was suspended due to the crisis caused by the novel coronavirus till further notice.

However, there have been various media reports suggesting BCCI is mulling alternative windows like August-September and October-November to stage the 2020’s edition of the cash-rich tournament and is creating pressure on ICC to postpone the T20 World Cup.

Border knows that India will have a bigger say in world cricket since they are contributing the lion’s share in the ICC’s revenue but said if IPL takes precedence over T20 World Cup, it would be “going down the wrong path.”

“That would be just shut the gate, you know, India running the game. They’re pretty close to it now, but I suppose if you’re responsible for 80 per cent of global (cricket) income, you’re going to have a fair say in what goes on, I get that,” he said.

“But I think the world game can’t allow that to happen. I don’t think you can have India superseding what the international game has in place. That would be going down the wrong path.”

With PTI inputs