'They need all these other cricket-playing nations to be successful' - CPL CEO Pete Russell on IPL's potential threat

Chief executive officer of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) Pete Russell spoke about the threats the Indian Premier League (IPL) could pose while also acknowledging the value of the cash-rich league. The IPL is regarded as the most powerful T20 franchise league and Russel thinks that it might fortoken other cricket-playing nations like West Indies.

IPL draws attraction from big stars from all over the world and signed multimillion-dollar contracts. Additionally, it is the only competition with an exclusive window in the ICC Future Tours Program and no franchise league or international tour can be held during that period. Despite recognizing the IPL's worldwide impact, Russell voiced concerns about the tournament's ability to transcend other nations. 

"It's the mecca of cricket, it's the powerhouse of cricket right now — and obviously BCCI have an extraordinary amount of power — but you have to be careful that you don't kill the goose that lays the golden egg. At the minute they have a fantastic tournament, fantastic commercial base, but what you don't want to do is then say: 'We're going to play this for nine months for the year,' and think you're going to get the same result because that's not how it works," Russell told Jamaica Observer.

"Also, you have to remember they need all these other cricket-playing nations to be successful, so there's no point in strangling Cricket West Indies, South Africa, Sri Lanka, or these other guys because that's how the international game evolves. India does pretty well out of what it gets already. I don't see it; I think, if anything, they'll squeeze some of their franchise owners to not invest in some of these other leagues but, in some ways, the horse has already bolted so I think the status quo will probably remain," he added.

BCCI have a hold on to their players is why they get the value for the rights they have: Russel

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), in contrast to all other cricketing nations, forbids its contracted players from participating in other franchise leagues. Top players like MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravindra Jadeja are only seen playing in the IPL as the Indian cricket board is aware that they will lose the value of their league. Speaking about this, Russel had made a fruitless attempt to set a deal with India's top players.
 
"We have [had conversations with BCCI] but, of course, once you break the seal and say, 'Bring some players into CPL,' the reality is every league will then want them to play for them. The BCCI aren't stupid people so the idea that they have a hold on to their players is why they get the value for the rights they have. If Kohli, Dhoni, and these other guys played around the world it takes a bit of value off what they're doing in IPL, so there's no point in them sharing players with other leagues. It just doesn't make sense for them, there's no upside for them; the upside is only for the leagues they would be giving the players to," he further said.