Global T20 leagues yearn for an Indian connect

Mumbai: Indian cricket is both a strategic asset and weakness for the global game. And the BCCI knows that allowing IPL’s competing leagues to leverage India’s popular men cricketers isn’t great strategy. With that being the case, T20 leagues are on a constant look-out for circuitous routes to attract Indian eyeballs.
That explains Cricket South Africa naming Dinesh Karthik as SA20 Ambassador ‘to help strengthen the league’s global fan base and reinforce brand awareness across key strategic markets in India and the United Kingdom’. SA20 wants to explore if they can cash in on Karthik’s late-career popularity, not just in India as a T20 finisher but as a cricket broadcaster in England.
The league may benefit more with Karthik being signed by Paarl Royals for the next edition, making him first Indian player slated to turn up in SA20. This became possible after the wicket-keeper batter announced his retirement from international cricket and IPL in June. Similar opportunities were lapped up by Cricket West Indies-run CPL where Ambati Rayudu played, last year. Much the same way, Robin Uthappa and Yusuf Pathan played for Dubai Capitals in UAE’s ILT20, post their retirement.
Although these are short-term gigs from cricketers in their last legs, their presence guarantees some Indian connect for the franchise owners to expand their outreach.
Cricket Australia’s Big Bash made a similar attempt in 2022 by signing former India U19 captain Unmukt Chand, who now plays his cricket in USA. Chand’s stint proved to be flashy, but all too brief.
The other oblique way to establish an Indian connect is through voices in the commentary box. Last year, BBL had roped in services of India’s two old broadcast hands – Ravi Shastri and Harsha Bhogle for a few matches. “All reports suggest they loved what they saw, and we are looking forward to a few more global voices to bring different perspectives to the competition,” said Alistair Dobson GM, BBL in a media call, this week. Similarly, Sunil Gavaskar commentated in this year’s MLC in USA.
CLAMOUR AND CONGESTION
These are the efforts from IPL-inspired T20 leagues, the kind that are run by every top cricket board. But they pale in comparison to IPL, a beast of its own, year-after-year running to packed houses, bankrolled by a bumper broadcast deal.
It does not help that three major leagues – BBL, SA20 and ILT20 remain on a scheduling collision course to catch the January window. At the expense of Test cricket, the South African league has been able to guarantee the presence of its domestic stars, whereas BBL will have some leading Australian names available only for the second half of the league. Even that’s an improvement from last year, when the final was played with severely depleted squad strength as many marquee players rushed away to honour ILT20 contracts.
The ILT20 has no local stars and banks heavily on marquee international signings. Outside of IPL, they are the best paymasters with a team salary purse of $2.5 million. To make it more attractive, they have even introduced a wildcard rule that allows franchises to spend an additional 10 percent of the total salary cap for two pre-season signings.
On cue, BBL have come out with their own version of a pre-draft pre-signing rule that permits salary negotiations with players, over and above the top-grade contract. However, having steadfastly refused to entertain private equity ownership, BBL state teams do not enjoy the global footprint of IPL owners that other leagues do. New Zealand’s Colin Munroe is the most notable signing for two years in the BBL, so far, under the new rule.
“It is an interesting time with lots of cricket going all around the world. The players are rightly being rewarded. We still feel we are in pretty good shape even though the competitive nature of the global market is growing every year,” Dobson said.
Citing ‘quantity over quality’ BBL’s duration has been curtailed by two weeks. But it cannot be emphasized enough that on BBL’s big double-header day in Sydney and Perth, Australia will be playing India at the MCG in the Boxing Day Test. If that’s quantity over quality or how much is too much is for the market forces to decide.