Ugly truth behind IPL's $2 billion expansion

3 years ago 341

This morning's announcement that the BCCI has conscionable sold 2 caller IPL franchises for much than $2 cardinal exposes the staggering hypocrisy of those moving the crippled successful that country.

Already we person a 60-game IPL play that stretches (in a mean year) implicit 7 weeks, this volition present grow to 74 matches, providing much playing opportunities for India's emerging talents to vie with the precise champion successful the world.

Unless those emerging talents and existent superstars hap to beryllium female, successful which lawsuit they've been near precocious and dry. Again.

While Cricket Australia enjoys unprecedented TV ratings for this year's WBBL tournament, wide regarded arsenic the champion home pistillate cricket contention successful the world, the BCCI continues to permission its caput successful the sand.

Since 2018 the Women's T20 Challenge has existed, firstly arsenic a standalone match, expanding to 4 games betwixt 3 teams successful 2019 and 2020.

In 2021, however, the conception has stalled. Initially postponed owed to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is yet to beryllium rescheduled. Given it's present precocious October, it's hardly a agelong to reason that it volition beryllium softly abandoned altogether.

That's contempt the information that the IPL was besides postponed successful aboriginal May successful the look of skyrocketing lawsuit numbers successful India. But, dissimilar the women's mentation of the tournament, the BCCI moved eden and world to implicit the IPL successful the mediate east, with the tourney wrapping up connected the eve of the T20 World Cup.

There were adjacent suggestions that India's determination to propulsion retired of the 5th Test against England astatine Old Trafford successful September was made due to the fact that players had 1 oculus connected the IPL, a concern that seems unfathomable to Australians.

India's caller circuit of Australia saw the location broadside triumph some completed T20 matches (one was washed out), though the borderline of triumph - 4 wickets successful Game Two and 14 runs successful Game Three - shows that India are not acold distant from matching Australia.

The triumph successful Game Three was lone imaginable acknowledgment to an unbeaten 44 from Tahlia McGrath, playing successful conscionable her eighth T20 International, but a seasoned of six seasons successful the WBBL.

"If you look astatine the mode Tahlia McGrath batted, we tin spot the assurance they are getting from a tourney similar WBBL... she has not played overmuch successful planetary cricket but got to play galore matches earlier playing for Australia," Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said aft that match.

"Ever since (the men's team) got a level similar the IPL, young antheral talents competing astatine the planetary level amusement maturity successful their show due to the fact that they transportation with them the tag of 40-50 IPL games, wherever they whitethorn person played precise bully cricket, adjacent winning their side's matches.

"I deliberation that is the lone crushed we are lacking close now.

"If we get the accidental to play home cricket astatine a bully level earlier playing specified planetary games, we volition decidedly amended arsenic a team."

Cricket Australia could person taken the casual way and cancelled this year's WBBL tourney successful the look of question restrictions betwixt states and adjacent a lockdown successful Tasmania. Instead, they've forked retired millions of dollars successful other costs to guarantee it goes ahead.

Players from Victoria and New South Wales had to bash a hard edifice quarantine successful Tasmania, portion a biosecurity bubble had to beryllium implemented overnight erstwhile Hobart and surrounding areas went into lockdown.

The equilibrium expanse is nary uncertainty a oversea of reddish ink, but the endgame for CA was evident successful March 2020, erstwhile 86,174 fans turned up to the MCG for the Women's T20 World Cup final.

Australian superstar Alyssa Healy has antecedently said she'd emotion to beryllium progressive successful a WIPL, and there's nary uncertainty those views would beryllium shared by the champion pistillate players successful different nations. At a clip erstwhile the women's crippled is enjoying unprecedented growth, a afloat standard WIPL is simply a no-brainer.

Doubtless, Cricket Australia's finances would beryllium successful amended signifier without the WBBL astatine the moment. But the short-term symptom is worthy it for the semipermanent summation of giving women and girls the aforesaid accidental afforded their antheral counterparts.

If lone those moving the BCCI thought likewise.

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