Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
Cricket has reached a level where T20 cricket, especially franchise cricket is dominating while conventional international formats like ODIs are slowly fading away. With the birth of new T20 leagues every second month, fitting in international cricket in the calendar is getting tougher and tougher. Amid all the talks of saving international cricket, a report has emerged that Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises are looking to bind its players for 12-month contracts.
IPL, the biggest T20 league in the world, attracts massive viewership, and thus players from across the globe look to play in it. This also benefits the franchises in the league and as a result of it, these franchise owners are only getting richer. The money earned is now being used to own teams in T20 leagues across the globe. A recent example came when ownership of all six teams in South Africa’s new T20 league was swept away by six IPL franchises.
Now, the franchise owners are trying to move one step ahead and bind their players for a 12-month contract so that they can feature in leagues across the globe. A report in the Telegraph has claimed that IPL franchise owners are already making a move in this direction. The report quoted Kolkata Knight Riders CEO Venky Mysore talking about this move.
“In an ideal world, sure - because that gives us the opportunity to make our vision and our strategy even stronger,” Mysore was quoted saying. “If we were able to have X number of contracted players, and were able to use them all in different leagues, I think that would be nirvana. Hopefully, someday it will happen. I wouldn't be surprised if it did.”
“If it happened that way, at some point in the future, that’d be great,” Mysore said. “What we want to create is a common platform and a system and a culture that allows us to participate around the year - enhancing our brand, building our fan base, and providing opportunities to cricketers around the world. And in the process, you build hopefully a successful business around it.”
Notably, the Knight Riders Group now have four teams under their umbrella - their flagship IPL franchise, the Trinbago Knight Riders in the Caribbean Premier League, plus sides in the International League T20 (UAE) and Major League Cricket (US), which both launch next year.