New Delhi: With the Indian Premier League (IPL) continuing with the trend of expanding its web by buying stakes in the four franchises in England’s premier tournament The Hundred, a lot of changes are expected in the upcoming conditions.
The England Cricket Board (ECB) on Thursday confirmed the exclusivity agreements with eight partners to secure private investment in each of the Hundred’s teams. The total valuation of the combined deal stands at just over £975 million.
The investors will now enter an eight-week negotiation period with the eight host counties/teams. Among the investors are RPSG Group (owners of Lucknow Super Giants), Sun TV Network Limited (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Reliance Industries Limited (Mumbai Indians) and GMR Group (co-owners of Delhi Capitals), who bought stakes in Manchester Originals, Northern Superchargers, Oval Invincibles and Southern Brave, respectively after making successful bids.
Will IPL’s strong presence in The Hundred impact Pakistani players?
The strong presence of IPL owners in The Hundred has opened the possibility of the involvement of India’s cricket market – hands-down the most lucrative in the world and also raised a question mark: will India’s strong imprint on the league affect the involvement of Pakistani players?
ECB chief executive, Richard Gould, believes that the Indian TV market will help their overseas market grow to new heights and also add extra value to the overseas broadcast rights.
However, Gould believes that the new tie-up will not soften the BCCI stance on barring Indian active international cricketers from participating in foreign T20 or white ball leagues. While several Indians have played county cricket, none have appeared in the men’s Hundred or the T20 Blast.
“In terms of availability to Indian players, that is not priced in with our plans. The BCCI’s position has been very clear. At some point we’d love to see Indian players come and play in England. We currently see them obviously in bilaterals and actually quite a lot in county cricket. But that’s not something that we have predetermined through this process”, he said.
Gould also said that the ECB will ensure Pakistani cricketers’ participation won’t be affected by the IPL influence on the Hundred. Due to the political tensions between the two countries, no Pakistani player has featured in the IPL since the inaugural season in 2008.
The Hundred: IPL’s strong presence in England’s flagship tournament has opened the possibility of the involvement of India’s lucrative cricket market, which will give a massive boost ECB’s overseas broadcast rights. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
