Former England all-rounder Ravi Bopara said that he was not surprised to hear about England players being offered multi-million-pound to play leagues including the IPL franchises throughout the year, with a condition to retire from International cricket.
Earlier this week, London Times reported that six English players were offered huge contracts to play for IPL franchises in the global leagues, taking retirement from England Cricket Board (ECB).
Speaking to the BBC Test Match Special podcast, Ravi Bopara said that this is an expected move by IPL franchises with the rise of global T20 leagues around the world especially with top IPL teams owning many teams across the globe and also cited the example of West Indies players plying their trade in the global leagues rather than International cricket.
“This was coming. This has been a chat in the county circuit and around cricket in general. This was always going to be happening, especially after IPL teams started acquiring teams worldwide – in the South African league and in the major league coming up in America. We have already seen them acquire teams in CPL, to recruit West Indian players coming through. That was the start,” Ravi Bopara said.
Ravi Bopara reckons that England Stars Jos Buttler and Sam Curran would definitely be part of the discussion as they already play for IPL teams in SA20 and Indian Premier Leagues.
“I am not surprised at all by the development. I am sure Jos Butler, Sam Curran would be part of that discussion. Those two would definitely be part of the discussion,” he stated.
Indian Premier League teams have expanded their teams to global leagues, as Mumbai Indians have teams in SA20, ILT20, and MLC and Kolkata Knight Riders have teams in CPL, ILT20, and MLC.
Similarly, Chennai Super Kings have their stakes in SA20 and MLC and Delhi Capitals in SA20, ILT20 and MLC. All the IPL teams excluding Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Titans have at least one team in the overseas league.
It’s Real Thing For Players To Think About As It’s Big Money – Ravi Bopara
Ravi Bopara also said that there is a large possibility for a few England stars to sign the contracts offered by the IPL franchises as it would involve a huge amount of money and reckons that players, who are in the end phase of their career can start thinking about the better options offered by such franchises.
“It’s a real thing for players to think about as it’s big money. If they are seeing longer contracts say 3 years or 5 years, then it’s a serious issue for players to think about. If one of them is coming to an end of England career, then you are sort of thinking you have only 2-3 years left in England career, you might think this is a better career for me,” Ravi Bopara added.
With the rise of Global leagues, IPL franchises have ownership in CPL, SA20, ILT20 and MLC so far and there are also talks going on with Saudi Arabia mulling to set up the World’s richest cricket competition in the world.