Currently four IPL franchisees have won bids to invest in four teams of The Hundred
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said it doesn’t expect Indian players to play in The Hundred nor does it exclude Pakistani players’ participation in it following heavy investments from Indian Premier League (IPL) owners.
Among those who raised successful bids are RPSG Group which owns Lucknow Super Giants (for Manchester Originals), Sun TV Network Limited which owns Sunrisers Hyderabad (for Oval Invincibles), Delhi Capitals’ co-owners GMR Group (for Southern Brave) and Reliance Industries Limited who own Mumbai Indians (for Oval Invincibles).
This is not the first time for IPL franchisees to invest in teams of budding leagues. United Arab Emirates’ International League T20 (ILT20) and South Africa SA20 have been dominated by IPL-linked ownership while the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) has teams owned by IPL franchise owners.
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ECB’s hope is that the new ownership can bring in more eyeballs in India, despite being aware of the fact that the Indian players are unlikely to feature in it.
“In terms of the India TV market, the overseas market is very important for us. The fact that we have got such a wide-ranging set of investors from around the globe will, I believe, help us to add extra value to our overseas broadcast rights,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould told ESPNCricinfo.
“In terms of availability to Indian players, that is not priced in with our plans. The BCCI’s position has been very clear. At some point we’d love to see Indian players come and play in England,” Gould added.
Unlike the BCCI, other boards don’t have a restriction on contracted players featuring in other leagues including the Pakistan Cricket Board despite having the Pakistan Super League at home. It has also seen many Pakistani players featuring in The Hundred.
When asked about SA20 and ILT20 where there is little or no representation of Pakistani players, Gould said that will not be the case with The Hundred.
“We’re aware of that in other regions, but that won’t be happening here,” he said.
The IPL owners also bought teams in the United States’ Major League Cricket (MLC) with Reliance owning MI New York and GMR Group buying Seattle Orcas.
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