CSA pins hopes on Indian players to revive T20GL

What’s the story?

Cricket South Africa (CSA) is hoping to lure Indian players to participate in its Twenty20 Global League as it is the best possible way to make the tournament financially viable.

Chris Nenzani, the CSA president, believes that by roping in Indian players they would increase subcontinent's interest in the tournament and open up potential broadcast revenues.

"We are aware that there is a policy decision (which prevents Indian players from participating in other leagues apart from their own, the IPL) but the fact that there is an appetite to talk about it, gives us hope," Nenzani told ESPN Cricinfo.

"There is no agreement at the moment but we will continue to discuss this over the summer. We believe having Indian players in the league could open up a huge market for us," Nenzani added.

The details

The Global T20 league, which was due to be played in November-December 2017, was postponed in October after CSA failed to secure a broadcast or sponsorship deal for the competition, incurring R184-million in losses.

With a plan to relaunch the league, CSA is putting together a new financial model and is slated to take the final decision in February.

In case you didn’t know…

CSA acknowledged that its financial model was "too ambitious" and they need a plan that would help them break even within the first three years.

They also revealed that Cricket Australia have extended a helping hand in terms of data and resources.

What’s next?

CSA's acting CEO Thabang Moroe and Neznani have been in contact with the BCCI to improve relations between the two boards so that Indian players could be allowed to feature in South Africa's franchise-based T20 tournament.

Although there has been no agreement as of now, CSA officials are hoping that the BCCI would release its players for the overseas T20 league.

Author’s take

There is no doubt over the worth of Indian players in the cricketing market and hence it is not surprising that CSA is now looking towards the BCCI and its players to take part in the league which will help to increase the stock value of the same.