Overseas IPL suggestion categorically opposed

One of the most powerful cricket boards, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) received a setback on the suggestion of annual overseas Indian Premier League (IPL) in September.

BCCI president, Anurag Thakur proposed the idea, which was to take the best domestic tournament abroad. TOI reported that four cricket boards – Cricket Australia, West Indies Cricket Board, England Cricket Board and Cricket South Africa – categorically opposed the BCCI’s idea.

This could be the first time in the last two decades that a proposal from BCCI has been turned down in the international circuit. “If true, it’s a telling sign of the reduced clout the current set of administrators (in the board) wield, unlike their predecessors. It’s also a personal embarrassment for the men running the BCCI right now,” a source said.

While BCCI had been looking to push the overseas IPL, the ICC chairman Shashank Manohar has been in talks with Star TV to again make the World T20 a once-in-two-years event. Thakur and Manohar have not been not in good terms for the last 6 months now. The ICC president refused to entertain the discussion on overseas IPL at the ICC meeting, saying it wasn’t on the agenda.

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Rajiv Shukla, the IPL governing council chairman had told the media on June 23 that the BCCI had shot down Mumbai Indians plans to play a short unofficial tournament in the United States with two other franchises – Rising Supergiants Pune and Royal Challengers Bangalore.

The overseas IPL season was planned as a replacement of the Champions League T20, which was discontinued after 6 editions by 2014. CLT20 was financially a better option for Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa because of the fee they were earning from the broadcasters.

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