Kolkata Knight Riders CEO Venky Mysore with the victorious KKR side. (File Photo)
The Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) is exploring all options to ensure the Indian Premier League occurs this year. However, tinkering with its existing format is unacceptable to the franchises.
Kolkata Knight Riders CEO Venky Mysore, on Thursday, addressed the media in a virtual press conference and said that while there is still no clarity on the IPL’s future all franchises are on the same table and want the event to be staged in its entirety.
“So one thing which I feel quite strongly about and we feel strongly about is that we should not tinker with the quality of the product that we have,” Mysore told reporters.
“It is the same quality that has made it really, really special. I think it is safe to say that the collective view is that we need to have the tournament in its full format, the same number of games, with all the players part of it,” he added.
“I think the majority of the franchises, I know there are one or two who have answered it slightly differently, but when I talk to them offline, they say that they were misquoted,” he explained.
“I would hope that whichever window, we end up staging the IPL that we’ll be in a position to achieve that,” he said.
“I think it is without a doubt that the IPL as a product has become the biggest spectacle, the biggest product which has caught the imagination not only of India as a country but the world at large.”
Mysore also spoke about the importance of foreign players and said while the Indian athletes form the backbone of the sides one cannot ignore the valuable contribution of the foreigners.
“But I think we should recognise that when you look at even our own team – Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, an Eoin Morgan and now Pat Cummins comes as a combination to our excellent lineup that we have on the Indian side, makes it really special,” he explained while speaking on the sidelines of the launch of KKR Sahayata Vahan, an initiative to cater to COVID-19 and Cyclone Amphan relief work in West Bengal.
“The city of Kolkata & The West Bengal Region have been fighting a dual war against COVID-19 and the Amphan cyclone aftermath. In these trying times, our aim is to provide support and relief work that will help people in any little way possible”, said Venky Mysore, CEO & MD Kolkata Knight Riders.
KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik, who was also a part of the conference, said, “Kolkata is our home away from home, and we want to do everything we can to bring relief to the people suffering. Even though we cannot be there physically, our hearts go out to the numerous people who have been a big part of team KKR and will continue to be.”