Australian cricketers have reportedly been approached by franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL) about signing year-round contracts to represent them in other franchise T20 competitions where they have their teams.
According to a report in The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, representatives of IPL franchises have had informal discussions with the players through their management to determine how much money would be needed to convince them to commit to playing for them in different T20 leagues rather than for the national cricket team.
"A source with knowledge of the situation claimed that $5 million had been proposed as a reward to entice a prominent Australian player. The highest-paid player on CA's list of contracts, Test and One-Day international skipper Pat Cummins, would receive a salary that is more than twice as much."
The article stated that IPL franchises with teams in other domestic Twenty20 competitions will be eager to sign contracted Australian stars like Cummins, David Warner, and Glenn Maxwell.
According to the report, players have not shown much interest in signing year-long contracts. However, according to a source cited in the article, this could change as players near the conclusion of their international careers and it will only take 18 to 2 years for Australian players to sign year-long franchise cricket contracts.
"Since a player's primary source of money has typically come from their country rather than their club, it would represent a radical change from the game's traditional compensation arrangement for international cricketers. This is unusual in the world of sport. To participate in overseas T20 leagues, players would still need no objection certificates from their home board "put the report in.
The change occurs at a time when IPL franchises have acquired all six of the teams from the inaugural SA20 competition, and some of them, like Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Mumbai Indians (MI), have also acquired teams from the ILT20 tournament in the UAE. In addition, KKR manages the Trinbago team in the Caribbean Premier League and is vying for a team in the upcoming Major League Cricket in the USA.
Venky Mysore, the CEO of KKR, announced earlier this year that his franchise wanted players to sign 12-month contracts to play for their teams. "In a perfect world, yes — because that provides us the chance to strengthen our strategy and our vision."
If we were able to have X number of contracted players, and were able to use them all in different leagues, I think that would be nirvana. Hopefully, someday it will happen. I wouldn't be surprised if it did," Venky Mysore was quoted as saying by The Daily Telegraph, London.