“They basically run a monopoly on the premier leagues” - Aravinda de Silva on BCCI not allowing Indian cricketers to play in other leagues

Former Sri Lankan batter Aravinda de Silva has urged the Indian cricket board to allow their players to feature in T20 leagues apart from the Indian Premier League (IPL). According to Aravinda, the overall standard of cricket will drop if India don’t support other countries in their growth.

The IPL is the most lucrative T20 league in the world. The tournament was recently in the news following its record-breaking sales of media rights. The broadcast rights for the 2023-2027 IPL cycle were sold for a whopping ₹48,390 crore. In terms of per match value, the IPL is now second only to the National Football League (NFL).

Aravinda acknowledged the contribution of the IPL in the vast improvement of the gentleman’s game. He also compared T20 leagues to county cricket and told AFP:

"It's like the county cricket of those days which gave the English cricketers the advantage. The IPL, Big Bash or in England the Hundred and T20 Blitz, those are tournaments which allow players to develop."

The Lankan legend, however, lamented that Indian players are not allowed to play in overseas T20 leagues. Sharing his reservations over the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) rule, he elaborated:

"If you have one dominating country, you can see from the IPL, they basically run a monopoly on the premier leagues because the Indian cricketers are not allowed to play in other leagues."

He continued:

"So what will probably happen is that the standard -- if it keeps dropping and if there is no real competition -- at some point it's going to affect the global game. Unless (India) find a way to support the other countries and get them up to grips with the kind of support levels which the game requires nowadays, it's a negative for the cricket world.”

The 2022 edition of the IPL concluded in May with debutants Gujarat Titans (GT) defeating the Rajasthan Royals (RR) by seven wickets in a one-sided final.

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“We don't want a situation like Zimbabwe and South Africa” - Aravinda de Silva on IPL’s domination

The 1996 World Cup-winning player urged the International Cricket Council (ICC) to intervene and ensure that countries with fewer resources don’t end up falling far too behind in the game. He opined:

"It's the (world governing body) ICC's responsibility to make sure that it's done in a manner where these countries keep developing, otherwise we don't want a situation like Zimbabwe and South Africa, how they dipped from their standard of cricket."

Aravinda’s comments come even as the BCCI is pushing for an expanded window for the upcoming IPL seasons. BCCI secretary Jay Shah recently confirmed that the governing body is in talks with the ICC and other cricket boards to have an exclusive window for the IPL.

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