'There's no loyalty anymore:' Chris Gayle's explosive rant for separate IPL window and fair pay in international cricket

The ever-increasing value of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and franchise cricket in general has put international cricket at risk of losing its charm. The money involved in IPL is more than international cricket, and the brand value of the league competes with the best events across sports.

Everyone wants to play IPL, even if it comes at the expense of missing a few games for the country, and the remuneration is the most significant reason. Players get paid heavily enough to keep their priorities sorted, even though a massive chunk still prefers nation over franchise.

Generally, international cricket is not full-fledged when the IPL carnival is on, but some teams schedule during the IPL window, which causes a problem for everyone involved. Most players are compelled to leave the franchise and return back, especially from teams like Australia and England.

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If the trend continues in the coming times, cricketers might stop caring about international cricket and put their loyalties with their franchises. That will put international cricket in danger since most cricket boards don’t have a central contract as lucrative as IPL.

Chris Gayle's explosive rant for separate IPL window and fair pay in international cricket

Talking on the hot topic with Dafanews' Spirit of Cricket Podcast, Chris Gayle suggested a separate window for IPL, where no international cricket will be played to avoid players from missing out on one of the two events. Further, Gayle opined for an increase in pay in international cricket to enable players not to run after franchise cricket, where they get more than playing for their nation, which also leads to more opportunities in other leagues around the globe.

“From ICC's point of view - maybe they're not bringing a lot of revenue, (or) a lot of marketing products for the game, but we still have to pay them. We just have to step up the gear money-wise and just look after the players because the game has changed, man. It's reality. The game has changed. It's business. It's all about the paper.”

“There's no loyalty there anymore within the game. It's all about the paper. We can't stop a player, which the issues have been going on for so many years, where a player chooses a franchise over his country. You cannot fault a player for that. There's no way you can fault any player for that because at the end of the day, it's still their livelihood, it's still their job, and they're still playing cricket.”

Chris Gayle and several West Indies players have personal experience of having to choose between international and league cricket, which led to strained relationships with the board. The coming times will be arduous for international cricket due to the amount of league cricket served throughout the year, and the only way to keep it relevant is a surge in wages, for that will prevent players from luring towards league cricket, where they get the desired sum, or even more sometimes, for their job.

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