There needs to be a balance between formats, franchise and international cricket and also between enriching the corporates and enriching the game.
There needs to be a balance between formats, franchise and international cricket and also between enriching the corporates and enriching the game.
The cat is starting to get out of the bag. The Chief Executive Officer of Kolkata Knight Riders is quoted in daily Telegraph Having said that IPL franchises expect to contract players to play for their different teams for 12 months out of the year.
“If we had X number of players contracted, and we were able to use them all in different leagues, I think it would be Nirvana. Hopefully, someday it will happen,” Venky Mysore told the newspaper. Told.
Meanwhile, player, coach and television pundit Ravi Shastri batted for two IPL tournaments in a season in a podcast, the other a short knockout.
bad sign
An IPL bigwig (KKR has four teams in the franchise cricket world) has spoken, an IPL cheerleader has also done the same. Signs are ominous.
The handful of wealthy franchises that run world cricket have no great imagination to see who plays where, and by extension, where it is more profitable to lose.
Venky Mysore has said, “What we want to create is a common platform and a system and a culture that allows us to participate throughout the year – growing our brand, building our fan base, and helping cricketers around the world.” And in the process, you build a successful business around it.” This is the Me-Generation with huge disposable income.
Should we read it as the vanity of a successful businessman or peek into the future of the game, the oldest and oldest version of which will be struggling? Or dip your toes in water to check its temperature?
International sport requires that administrators recognize the signs. If they display their usual lethargy, it may be too late. Franchise cricket where, most importantly, international cricket can change even before you know it. For a game that is constantly progressing, attempting to go back or restore
future plans
What is the plan of the International Cricket Council and its strongest member, the Board of Control for Cricket in India, for the next three, five or ten years? A plan beyond tours and tournaments, World Cups and television deals? A survival plan, if you will. What will they insist on, what will they miss?
Ian Chappell put it simply in his column when he said, “The future of the game needs to be considered. A firm decision is needed on how many formats are best for cricket. Once that is decided, it should be confirmed how the formats should proceed for the game to develop. ,
There is already too much cricket being played to harm the physical and mental health of the players. If players are signed to T20 franchises throughout the year in future, then other formats will easily get out. It may be nirvana for KKR and others, but it is a limited, even dangerous way of looking at it.
For spectators accustomed to the three formats, each with its own special features, will repeat T20 matches be as satisfying? Franchise matches may be played in India or Australia or the Caribbean, but in reality they are all being played in one place: television. Do short games add complexity and flare to the limits of emotion that the longest do?
This is not an argument to focus on Test cricket except everything else. What we need is a balance: between formats, between franchise and international cricket, between enriching corporates and enriching the game.
The variations are interesting, but…
Whatever the current popularity of T20, it is useful to remember that it developed when the one-day game was seen as boring and predictable; Now there is T10 which is gaining ground. Variations are interesting (The Hundred in England is another format), but they are just that – variations. The real thing is a game of two innings played over three, four or five days.
For the time being, Venky Mysore’s plan may be a pipe dream. For one, there is little commonality in recruitment across different leagues; For another, Indian players are not allowed to participate outside the IPL. Most importantly, the BCCI will not hand over control of its players (intended in its name!) to corporates.
But compromise is the name of the game, and wherever BCCI gets its pound, so many plans can be made, while the franchises really decide the future of the game.
If this all sounds like an exaggeration, it probably is at this stage. But just as science fiction has ushered in some inventions and discoveries in science, the individual dreams of key stakeholders in sports can be precursors of the game’s direction.