Indian Premier League 2024

'IPL international cricket ko hathya kar raha' - Fans react to reports of top English cricketers consider terminating their central contracts for IPL 

Top English cricketers are considering terminating their central contracts to play league cricket with IPL franchises, according to reports.

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England T20I team

England T20I team (Source: Twitter)

England T20I team England T20I team (Source: Twitter)

Reports have emerged that top England players are considering signing full-time contracts with Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises and quitting their central contracts. Earlier, it was reported that IPL owners offered multi-million dollar deals to premier English players in an attempt to persuade them to skip international cricket and play franchise cricket throughout the year.

According to a report by The Times, the value of the contracts will be in the range of 5 million pounds a year, which equates to around INR 50. The players who sign the contract will play for the franchise in various leagues around the world. It is learned that almost all of the 10 IPL franchises are now trying to break into international markets.

The Times, however, did not disclose the identities of the franchises that are in the running to provide multi-million dollar contracts, nor the names of the players involved in the discussion.

“Initial discussions have taken place after at least six English players, including some international stars, were approached by IPL franchise owners and asked whether, in principle, they would accept a deal that would make an Indian team their main employer, rather than the ECB or an English county," the report read.

“This development follows discussions among players’ unions around the world about the potential implications of 12-month franchise contracts, which would be a significant step towards the football model of elite players being primarily contracted to their team and released for international duty, rather than the other way around," it added.

The deal is worth more than five times the value of the highest England central contracts!

The report says a similar discussion has already taken place with prominent Australian players and the deal is worth more than five times the value of the highest England central contracts.

“Discussions have already taken place with a number of high-profile Australian players about full-time deals but this has now been extended to English players. Contracts could be worth upwards of GBP 2 million a year and even as high as GBP 5 million more than five times the value of the highest England central contracts."

“Reduced IPL deals covering at least three of the rounds would also be on offer. It is unlikely that any of England’s Test stars will walk away from their central contracts in favour of a franchise contract but the sheer amount of money on offer makes that a risk in the future."

There is no doubt that T20 cricket is dominating and it is slowly diminishing the beauty of the other two formats of the game. However, cricket fans had varied reactions to the new move by IPL franchises, with the majority of them claiming that it will kill international cricket and some saying that it will make cricket a global sport.

Here's how fans reacted to the reports: 

IPL ECB England