Even though the duration of IPL is two and a half to three months, the IPL franchise owners have teams in other leagues too. What better than having your best player represent your team everywhere? Venky Mysore, CEO of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), said that IPL franchisees are open to the notion of signing the best cricket players in the world on an annual contract. This contract will allow for greater consistency between teams participating in different tournaments.
In an interview, Mysore said, “If it happened that way at some point in the future, that’d be great. What we want to create is a common platform, a system, and a culture that allows us to participate around the year – enhancing our brand, building our fan base, and providing opportunities for cricketers around the world. And in the process, you build hopefully a successful business around it.”
12 months contract for top T20 players
KKR currently owns 4 teams in the different leagues- the IPL franchise, the Caribbean Premier League‘s Trinbago Knight Riders, plus sides in the International League T20 (UAE), and Major League Cricket (USA) – coming next year. Not just KKR, even the other franchises also have their teams playing in various leagues. This move will help the teams with the selection woes and will also make it easier for the players.
“In an ideal world, sure because that gives us the opportunity to make our vision and our strategy even stronger. 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,” Mysore said.
There is a significant obstacle standing in the way of IPL franchises’ plans to grow their presence internationally in various T20 leagues abroad. Indian players who are currently active cannot compete in foreign competitions. To play in the leagues abroad, an Indian cricketer must be retired or not currently engaged in either domestic or international cricket. Nonetheless, the BCCI will take a decision about the same in the annual general meeting in September.
