IPL franchises approach select Australian players with year-round contracts - Reports 

Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises have reportedly approached select Australian players in a bid to rope them in to represent their sister franchises on a 12-month contract.

With IPL franchises making acquisitions in the upcoming budding overseas leagues as well, they are keen to retain the same core and player base for all of their sides.

According to reports by the Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, the franchises have contacted the agents of the players to get a fair estimate that would entice the cricketers to represent them throughout the year instead of playing international cricket.

The informal talks so far have apparently led to a $5 million offer on a yearly basis being made to a high-profile Australian player.

Viewing this lucrative deal in context, it is to be noted that current ODI and Test skipper Pat Cummins, who is placed in the highest bracket of the central contract list, earns around $2 million from Cricket Australia (CA).

Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) CEO Venky Mysore had labeled the prospect of a year-long contract as an 'ideal' scenario for franchise cricket. He told The Telegraph earlier this year:

“In an ideal world, sure - because that gives us the opportunity to make our vision and our strategy even stronger. If we were able to have X number of contracted players, and were able to use them all in different leagues, I think that would be nirvana. Hopefully, someday it will happen. I wouldn’t be surprised if it did.”

The next edition of the IPL is slated to take place from March to June 2023 with a dedicated window for the first time. The mini-auction has been locked in for December 16, with the franchises required to submit their list of retained and released players by November 15.

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There is little interest from Australian players to sign the deal offered by the IPL franchieses - Reports

A slew of Australian players are currently plying their trade for IPL franchises who have acquired teams in overseas leagues as well. Cummins, David Warner, and Marcus Stoinis are just a few players who could be offered a year-long contract.

However, the reports add that there is very little interest from the players' side to sign the deal at this stage of their careers. According to a leading industry source, it might take around or over two years for the notion of full-year contracts to come into play.

The IPL's grip over world cricket increases day by day. The franchise owners in the cash-rich league were responsible for acquiring all six franchises in the upcoming SA20. They have already made acquisitions in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and the International League T20 (ILT20).

The expanded model has already come into play with the Mumbai Indians (MI) promoting Mahela Jaywardene and Zaheer Khan to global head of performance and player development roles recently. Current South Africa coach Mark Boucher will take over the MI side after the T20 World Cup 2022.

Do you see Australian players changing their stance over the 'year-long' contracts being offered to them? Let us know what you think.