Cricket News: Big Win for Indian Premier League and BCCI 

According to the draft by the International Cricket Council, IPL, which now has been given a window from March last week to May, will get a two-week extension to June. BCCI secretary Jay Shah said, "The T20 extravaganza would be a two-and-a-half-month affair from the next FTP." the proposal got an agreement from most member nations as the tournament pays maximum wages to foreign players. 

While most nations agreed to the proposal, Pakistan Cricket Board expressed their concern about the rising number of T20 leagues competing for spaces in the calendar and thus impacting international cricket fixtures. The extended window would imply that Pakistan will not be able to play top teams during that period while other boards get compensated by receiving a percentage of their players' IPL salaries. 

When asked about Pakistan's objection, an ICC Board member laughed and replied, "The problem with Ramiz is that he has to say certain things to his country's media and he does that which is fair. But the trend of his performance at ICC meetings tells a different story. He never puts in a strong protest. Plus he is a thorough gentleman and he knows that this is happening. The boards want it and the players want it."

Unlike IPL, the Hundred in England, Big Bash League in Australia will not have a dedicated window. Still, they will look to be scheduled in a manner where marquee players of the countries are available for maximum games. The BBL and Cricket South Africa's T20 league will get a window in January, Pakistan Super League in February-March, England will have it from July to August, and West Indies from August-September, thus filling up most of the calendar months with these leagues. 

The fact remains that domestic T20 leagues have started to occupy maximum months of the year. With the promotion of such leagues, workload management of players will become a challenge and indirectly affect international fixtures, which might be scheduled haphazardly. With all such dilemmas surrounding leagues, the final draft is expected to be presented at the ICC's Annual General Meeting on 25th and 26th July 2022 at Birmingham.