IPL 2021 – IPL Teams in The Hundred: The England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) could offer the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises a stake in Hundred teams. Furthermore, The England board is ready to give the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) a share of television rights in Asia to attract big stars like Virat Kohli, according to a report by the Telegraph UK. Both the cricket boards have been in talks pre-COVID-19 pandemic but saw some development when ECB executives were in Ahmedabad during the pink-ball Test in February. The report added that ECB are mulling over a number of potential partnerships with India.
IPL Teams in The Hundred: The options include –
- The eight IPL franchises each taking a 25 per cent stake in an allocated Hundred team.
- Giving the BCCI a revenue share of broadcast income in Asia, the value of which would correlate to Indian players appearing in the Hundred.
As the pandemic delayed the progress and any development for the inaugural season this year seems unlikely. Both BCCI and ECB for the first time met face-to-face last month and there were discussions ranging more than just the Hundred.
IPL 2021: KKR and RR show interest
Besides the Hundred, the ECB hope that BCCI will see the summer seasons as a potential investment opportunity. The tickets sale for Hundred will go on sale in April, with the competition starting on July 21. It is around the same time the Indian contingent will travel to England for the five-Test series.
For the England Board, the deal would do wonders and will help them recover the financial losses they faced during the pandemic. Bringing Indian players would be vital for attracting the south Asian audience and also increase the reach of the tournament in India.
Interestingly, IPL franchises Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have already shown interest in buying a stake in Hundred franchises, reported Telegraph.
IPL 2021: BCCI to get media rights of Asian market
Offering the BCCI a share in Asia media rights is also a way for them to persuade Indian players to participate in the competition. The England board believes stars like Kohli, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya would not come at low cost and would be around £20 million a year in Asia alone. While Kohli captaining Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will earn INR 17 crore this season, Pant playing for Delhi Capitals (DC) will take INR 15 crore home. As for Pandya who will be seen in the Mumbai Indians outfit, he will rake INR 11 crore.
Talks between the boards started under Colin Graves and have accelerated since Sourav Ganguly became the secretary of the BCCI claims the report.
InsideSport.co View: The thought of BCCI play for game The Hundred is little far-fetched. The Indian board has been very protective of their assests be it the IPL or the Indian cricketers – it’s hard to believe that the BCCI will allow sharing of these assets with anyone else for meagre broadcast rights revenues of The Hundred.
Thought the franchises are free to buy the stakes in any foreign league but they don’t have any authority to make the Indian players play in their foreign assets. All those rights are completely secured with BCCI.