To maintain the calibre of all such events, Sunil Gavaskar suggested that players should only be allowed to participate in the Indian Premier League and two other franchise tournaments. The former captain of India expressed specific disappointment with the Major League Cricket (MLC) 2024 season, which just ended.
According to Gavaskar, the league’s calibre has declined since its start the previous year. The 75-year-old, who worked as a broadcaster for the lucrative league, bemoaned the low attendance in comparison to the first season. He offered a number of explanations for this, suggesting that players be limited to competing in no more than three franchise tournaments.
“This time around, the crowds were not as large for some reason. Perhaps because of the ICC T20 World Cup that took place before the tournament, viewers were already tired. Additionally, the cricket was not as good as it was the previous year. Perhaps because there were far too many common players present. In his piece for The Gavaskar stated, “The international stars who participate in different T20 leagues around the world also seemed a little casual.”
“This raises the question of whether athletes should only be allowed to participate in, say, three leagues, even though no one wants to restrict their income source. Because of the global skill pool it draws, everyone agrees that the Indian Premier League is the best and most competitive league. Thus perhaps a player has to be limited to the Indian Premier League and two further leagues of his choosing,” he continued.
Additionally, it is a little odd to see IPL players from one club represent the other rival IPL franchise in T20 leagues: Sunil Gavaskar
Gavaskar discussed the possibility of IPL players from one franchise moving on to play for other teams in different franchise competitions, donning their competitor’s uniform. The former cricket player who is now a broadcaster noted that it’s really strange to watch them play against the sister franchises of their IPL clubs for different teams with different owners. The owners of the Texas Super Kings, Los Angeles Knight Riders, and MI New York IPL franchises support up to three teams in the MLC.
“Players from one IPL franchise can appear on the teams of competing IPL franchises in other leagues, which is a bit odd. It does appear strange to see them wearing the shirt of a rival IPL team franchise in the other competitions, but it is quite comprehensible if the franchise they play for in the IPL does not have a team in the various countries’ T20 leagues “Gavaskar continued in his column.
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