'The game is going in a different direction' - Brendon McCullum opens up on Jofra Archer's multimillion-pound deal

Mumbai Indians (MI) are all set to take on defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) in the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) clash on Friday, May 12, at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The Titans are currently sitting on top of the IPL 2023 points table, while the Rohit Sharma-led side are placed in fourth.

The five-time IPL champions reportedly offered England pacer Jofra Archer a multimillion-pound contract that would last for 12 months. Notably, if the deal gets through, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) would need approval from the franchise to pick him for England's international outings.

Now that Archer has apparently been offered a year-bound deal by MI, England men's Test team head coach Brendon McCullum believes the game is moving in a different path. He said that in the past few years, there has been a slight shift in the perception of international cricket. He added that England would be completely naive to believe that players would refuse enormous sums of money on long-term contracts to play in the T20 leagues.

"In the end, the game is going in a different direction. In the last few years, there's been a shifting of the sand somewhat around international cricket, and we'd be completely naive to think that players would turn down huge amounts of money on long-term contracts for a lot less work in these T20 leagues because they should be playing international cricket. Those days are fast approaching to be over," said McCullum to the SENZ Breakfast show.

The former New Zealand captain feels that similar contracts by franchises will put international cricket in jeopardy. He also said that the national team would need to locate a replacement player if the players expressed a desire not to compete in international events. He added that everyone wants to watch the top athletes in the world represent their national teams.