Can the Indian cricket board, which guards its monopoly stringently, not allowing their players to feature in any other T20 franchise league, buy a stake in The Hundred, England’s league? The CEO of Lancashire, Daniel Gidney, certainly believes so.
“I think it’s possible. If I was the ECB, I’d be talking about perhaps bringing the BCCI in as a minority ownership partner in the tournament as a whole. If you do that, then you are aligning interests. That is probably your best chance of getting [Indian men’s] players in the Hundred,” Gidney told ESPNcricinfo. “It comes down to the will, and the individuals on both sides.” The ECB’s deadline for investors to sign participation agreements is the end of April.
The big reason for IPL being the undisputed No. 1 limited-over franchise tournament is the presence of Indian megastars. It is only after a player retires and is not part of the IPL that he gets a chance to play in other leagues. Wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik turning up for Rajasthan Royals’ Paarl Royals outfit in the SA20 is the latest example.
“The BCCI have been really successful with protecting their brand and by making sure they don’t plan any T20 tournaments anywhere in the world… If I was the BCCI, then I would have to say I would need a significant incentive to relax the current policy because that has been extraordinarily successful and has grown the IPL into the massive commercial entity that it is,” Gidney said.
That incentive can be pushed, Gidney believes, by having a good relationship. “”It’s all about relationships between stakeholders… If you build a relationship with the BCCI and understand the types of players that they see as potential future Test players, that’s a lot easier than putting in an NOC request saying ‘We’d like to see Virat Kohli or Rishabh Pant playing in the County Championship.’”
He cites a simple case of networking, like his Lancashire has with VVS Laxman. “We’ve probably had more Indian overseas players than any other county. When you have VVS Laxman at the NCA, who Mark Chilton [Lancashire director of cricket] captained, then you have strong relationships all the way through.”
For starters, there will be exhibition games against IPL franchises in England, says Gidney. “That’s the first step. Imagine having an LSG vs Delhi Capitals game here at Emirates Old Trafford – at the end of the season, say in September. That could be pretty mega, in terms of the Indian fans in the UK. It would make commercial sense for everybody.”
