It’s been a long time since the all-powerful BCCI saw itself pushed in the corner by other member boards of ICC and that’s exactly what happened at ICC’s recent annual conference in Edinburgh early this month.
BCCI, with president Anurag Thakur growing in confidence, proposed the idea of an annual overseas Indian Premier League (mini IPL) in September.
The main focus, BCCI suggested, was to take its most lucrative domestic competition abroad to reach the vast Indian audience and in the process, enrich its financial muscle.
But according to the latest report from Times of India, four cricket boards namely Cricket Australia, West Indies Cricket Board, England Cricket Board and Cricket South Africa categorically opposed the BCCI’s proposal.
Interestingly, there has been a reported tussle going on between BCCI and ICC to pounce on the vacant September slot for a marquee T20 event.
While BCCI had been desperately pushing for the overseas IPL, the ICC – led by chairman Shashank Manohar – has been in talks with Star TV to once again make the World T20 a once-in-two-years affair.
This could be the first time in close to two decades that a BCCI proposal in the international circuit has been turned down. Sources close to the developments are a bit confused also whether the snub could be a sign of things to come in near future.”If true, it’s a telling sign of the reduced clout the current set of administrators (in the board) wield, unlike their predecessors. It’s also a personal embarrassment for the men running the BCCI right now,” a source said.
Thakur and Manohar, meanwhile, have not been agreeing on several agenda for close to six months now. Manohar reportedly refused to welcome any discussion on Overseas IPL at the ICC meeting, saying it wasn’t on the agenda.
Meanwhile, the BCCI was expected to hold a meeting with franchise owners and CEOs earlier this week but it was postponed without any explanations. Franchises were left uncertain if BCCI indeed had the time to host an overseas mini IPL, considering the packed international calendar.
BCCI’s own domestic schedule including a revamped Duleep Trophy under lights -and the hectic Test calendar under the ICC’s Future Tours Program were the main reasons to concern about.
However, IPL governing council chairman Rajiv Shukla had earlier told that the BCCI had shot down Mumbai Indians’ plans to play a short unofficial tournament in the United States with two other franchises -Rising Supergiants Pune and Royal Challengers Bangalore -because the BCCI was planning the overseas mini IPL.
The overseas IPL was initially seen as a replacement to the T20 Champions League but the latter has always been financially a more suitable option for Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa due to the fee they were earning from the broadcasters to participate in the tournament.