Franchises want full IPL without any ‘tinkering’, reveals Venky Mysore
Kolkata Knight Riders CEO Venky Mysore has stated that the franchise owners of the Indian Premier League want a full-fledged season without any ‘tinkering’ in the format. Meanwhile, the International Cricket Council, on Wednesday, defer its decision on the fate of the T20 World Cup.
After a long virtual board meeting held by the ICC, on Wednesday, it was decided that the governing council has further pushed the announcement on the fate of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. The ICC mega event was originally scheduled to be held in the October-November window this year. However, as the COVID-19 pandemic tightened its grip, the fate of the T20 World Cup in Australia is now left hanging and the BCCI thought of scheduling a delayed IPL season if the ICC postponed its event.
But after the ICC further pushed the announcement, the BCCI made it clear that the IPL will be held this year. However, according to Kolkata Knight Riders CEO Venky Mysore, the franchises want the marquee T20 league to be held in its complete form and not a shortened one.
"One thing that I feel strongly about and we feel strongly about is that we should not tinker with the quality of the product that we have. The quality of the product is what has made it really, really special. I think it is safe to say that the collective view is that we have to have the tournament in its full format, the same number of games, with all the players part of it," he said on the sidelines of the launch of KKR Sahayata Vahan to cater to COVID-19 and Cyclone Amphan relief work in West Bengal, as quoted by TOI.
Amongst others, there were suggestions that the IPL could be staged without overseas players, due to the travel restrictions imposed by various governments. The said issue was actually discussed at a meeting between the BCCI and the franchises in March, where most of the owners were in favour of having overseas players as they’re integral to the league. Mysore, too, said that he believes foreign players have played a crucial role in the IPL’s success.
"I think the majority of the franchises, I know there are one or two who have answered it slightly differently, but when I talk to them offline, they say that they were misquoted. I would hope that whichever window, we end up staging the IPL that we'll be in a position to achieve that. I think it is without doubt that the IPL as a product has become the biggest spectacle, the biggest product which has caught the imagination not only of India as a country but the world at large," he added.
"It is primarily our Indian players who are the backbone of any team. But I think we should recognise that when you look at even our own team, a Sunil Narine, an Andre Russell, an Eoin Morgan and now Pat Cummins come as a combination to our excellent lineup that we have on the Indian side, makes it really special.”