Dubai: The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) upcoming Future Tours Program (FTP) starting 2024 has specifically provisioned two-and-a-half months for the IPL with no international cricket scheduled during this period. Last month, on the sidelines of the IPL media rights agreement, BCCI secretary Jay Shah confirmed in an exclusive interview with PTI that the next FTP will have a time limit of two and a half months for the dazzling T20 league.
Shah had said in an interview on June 13, “The IPL will have an official window of two and a half months from the next ICC FTP calendar so that all top international cricketers can participate. We have discussed this with various boards as well as with the ICC. According to the report of ‘ESPN Cricinfo’, there are two more weeks for the IPL in the ICC draft. Earlier it used to run from the end of March to the end of May but now it will run till June with an extension of two weeks.
However, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will oppose it as its players are banned from this league. However, Rameez Raja is unlikely to get support from other members of the ICC. IPL pays the highest amount to foreign players. 10 percent of the player’s salary goes to his respective board. In such a situation, most of the top countries do not hold any matches during the IPL.
When asked about Pakistan’s opposition, a member of the ICC Board laughed and replied, “The problem with Rameez is that he has to say certain things to his country’s media and he does what is appropriate. ” “However, his performance in ICC meetings is not the same. He never vehemently protested. They know this is happening. The board wants it and the players want it.”
Eight teams used to have 60 matches in the IPL, but after the addition of Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants, this time a total of 74 matches were played in the 10-team IPL. In the future, the number of matches will be 84 and then 94. Unlike the IPL, ‘The Hundred’ in England, Australia will not have a dedicated window for the Big Bash League.
However, both the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) and Cricket Australia would like to ensure that the schedule is set in such a way that the big players from both countries are available for most of the matches. The final draft is expected to be presented at the ICC Annual General Meeting in Birmingham on 25 and 26 July.
