Indian investors won’t affect Pakistan players’ involvement in Hundred: ECB chief
The participation of Pakistani cricketers in the Hundred will be unaffected despite half of the teams in the franchise cricket tournament based in England expecting Indian investment from owners of IPL teams, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief executive Richard Gould has confirmed.
Each of the eight teams of the Hundred have entered exclusivity agreements with new private investors for a stake in the franchises, which includes RPSG Group (Lucknow Super Giants), Sun TV Network Limited (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Reliance Industries Limited (Mumbai Indians) and GMR Group (Delhi Capitals). But the new investment will not change the geographical composition of the playing groups.
“We’re aware of that (Pakistani players being snubbed in franchise leagues) in other regions,” Gould was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo. “But that won’t be happening here.”
In the SA20 league in South Africa, for instance, where IPL franchise owners own each of the six teams, there are no Pakistan players in any squad.
Gould also confirmed that it is unlikely for Indian players to feature in the Hundred, as has been the case with the BCCI not allowing Indian players to play franchise leagues abroad.
“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,” the ECB chief said. “We currently see them obviously in bilaterals and actually quite a lot in county cricket. But that’s not something that we have predetermined through this process.”
Gould believes that new Indian investment will aid them in finding an audience in the country. “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,” he said.
© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
