BCCI are looking to launch their own ‘Hundred’, claims Colin Graves

The Hundred, an eight-team 100-ball competition with fancy rules, was set to be launched in grand fashion towards the latter half of 2020 by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), but the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic - and the Covid-19 situation in the United Kingdom - forced the English board to push the competition by a year, to 2021. The curious nature of the format - and the goofy rules associated with the tournament - was advertised as the USP of the competition by the ECB, who had planned for the Hundred to headline the summer of 2020 before the pandemic happened.

While the nature of the tournament - and the format, itself - has divided opinion amongst fans, outgoing ECB Chairman has come up with an interesting disclosure. According to Graves, multiple cricketing boards across the world are said to have been ‘excited’ by the format and he even went on to say that the BCCI, who he says enquired him about the competition are looking at launching their own Hundred.

"I know that some of the countries abroad, India in particular, are looking at their own," Graves told Sky Sports on Friday.

"They have been talking to me about it for the last year on a regular basis. So around the world it has created a lot of excitement." 

The BCCI have not responded to the comments made by Graves, but Manoj Badale, the majority owner at IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals, has claimed that the Hundred should do all it can to get Indian players to participate in the tournament. That would require the BCCI giving a go-ahead for its players to partake in a rival competition, but Badale feels that the ECB roping in Indian players for the Hundred would be a game-changer for English cricket.

"For the Hundred to maximise its potential in this country participation from Indian players would have to be top of my list of things to try and achieve," Badale said.

"It might take some, but it is a huge strategic priority. If we can embrace India and get those Indian eyeballs, watching the tournament here in the UK it is fantastic for the game here."

The inaugural season of the Hundred has been postponed to 2021, but the postponement could work in favour of the ECB, who should be able to get fans into stadiums by the time the tournament beckons.