The Indian T20 league has grown leaps and bounds since its inception way back in 2008. The recent media rights auction of the T20 extravaganza has made it the second most valuable sporting league in the world. The Indian Cricket Board is further planning to expand the league as it has revealed its plans of conducting more matches in a season from the next cycle of 2023-27. There will also be a separate window for the league in the Future Tours Programme of the apex cricket body.
In a new development, the franchises of the Indian T20 league might soon start contracting the players for the entire year as they look to break -through in foreign cricket leagues as well. They have already set their foot in South Africa and the United States.
The seeds for the future are already sown where we might see contracted players playing for the Indian T20 league franchise owners in different T20 competitions around the globe. Many Cricket experts have opined that this could prove to be detrimental for international cricket as the players will end up chasing lucrative offers from the T20 leagues instead of representing their national side. Some even believe that it will further deteriorate the quality of the other T20 leagues around the globe as it will fall short of cricketing talent.
Venky Mysore, the chief executive of the Kolkata Franchise, said having players contracted permanently, not just during the season, was the need of the hour.
“In an ideal world, sure – because that gives us the opportunity to make our vision and our strategy even stronger,” he told The Telegraph.
“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,” he added.
In addition to their Indian franchises, Kolkata, Rajasthan, and Punjab also own teams in the Caribbean Premier League. Cricket has finally entered the US market as the US Major League Cricket T20 competition is set to launch in the summer of 2023. This league is also affiliated with the Kolkata franchise. All six franchises of the new South African T20 league are also owned by the Indian T20 league franchises.
The cricket experts fear the death of international cricket as franchise leagues continue to extend its grip on the cricketing calendar.
