The world has definitely been pushed behind for at least a couple of years due to the outbreak of Global Pandemic Coronavirus. There has been a global economic crisis and almost every nation in the world is suffering and fighting in one way or the other. The world of sports has also been drastically affected and looks to be in a miserable condition. With monetary resources being dried up currently, there are many young and struggling sports personalities who are having a very hard time in this tough situation. They don't have adequate money and resources to live a life.
Similar concerns can arise in the case of the Boards or the Sporting Federations. With no tournament at sight in near future and scheduled series and tours being indefinitely postponed or cancelled, all these boards are bound to lose a hefty amount of money which they’ll otherwise be getting as a source of revenue. In one of my articles, I have already talked about the impacts of Corona on Cricket.
Right now, there is immense pressure rising on ICC (International Cricket Council) to take the game back to its best again. ICC requires some sort of support from the cricketing boards of the cricketing nations. They need the support to fight out the socio-economic crisis being faced by the world due to the pandemic. With BCCI being the richest board in the world and centre of the cricketing arena for the past decade or so, they’ll have a larger role to play in bringing cricket back on track in the Post COVID-19 world. In this article I have tried to bring forward how the BCCI can act as a saviour of our favourite sport?
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the most powerful body in the ICC committee. They are known to have an influence over the ICC and enjoy a fair amount of dominance in the same. They are financially strong and have helped ICC on many occasions before. Even the Indian Cricket Board enjoys the highest amount of revenue share from ICC.
We already know about the craziness that flows round the country for cricket. India has a decent amount of good players which helps to add more to it and the fan following keeps on increasing.
From my point of view, BCCI knows about its financial capabilities and strengths. They should step up as a leader to help the cricketing world to fight with the pandemic. They should ensure other members of the ICC committee that the BCCI is there to help them and get them out of the situation. India has resources which will definitely help them in some way or the other. They have one of the biggest markets of the game plus they have one of the biggest leagues in the world in the form of Indian Premier League (IPL).
The Indian Cricket Team is the highest contributor to the ICC revenue share. There are other boards who look to generate more income by playing matches and series against Team India. ICC's FTP (Future Tours Program) is also centred around BCCI and the Indian Board enjoys the largest revenue share from the same.
Looking from the future perspective, the ICC has to reschedule their future tour programs. With IPL being one of the major revenue generators for BCCI, it becomes important to conduct the league this year. This will generate revenue for BCCI and other boards as well.
BCCI even needs to cooperate wisely with other big members of ICC like England Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket Australia (CA) to generate more revenue. The ICC may even look to conduct more bilateral series involving India in the next two years or so. The real power of the Indian Board can be put to a great use during this tough time.
Any series involving India is always a potential eye catcher. India is not only one of the best team recently but the love for cricket in India has made the game a global sport. With a large diaspora India has often outshone the home team in stands while playing in countries such as Australia and New Zealand. The viewership of any series involving India is also very high.
India can play more series against small countries who are struggling currently. This will help them garner a good broadcast deal and thus improve their revenue. We have a huge pool of players and we can easily utilise that by applying rotation policy, in this way a lot of good players will get some international cricketing time and will also not overburden the current main team players.
BCCI treasurer has told the Indian Express that we will work out a formula with all the boards where everyone will come out as a financially stable player. The world is in a very tough situation and during this time we should go with the motto of "United we stand, divided we fall" and move forward to bring stability everywhere.
From my point of view, The World Twenty 20 and The Test Championship should still remain one of the biggest goals of ICC this year. The BCCI needs to accommodate the IPL in some part of the year and help the apex board in all the way possible. Cricket Australia has a big task in front of themselves to successfully conduct the Twenty-20 World Cup. I would love to see the Top 3 boards in the world to come together and work for the betterment of cricket in future. The BCCI can consolidate its position in the Post COVID-19 World by leading the revival of the game globally.
- Kshitij
Who are you ? Do you think BCCI will listen to this nonsense ? Who can forget how ICC backstabbed BCCI when it was ruled by CoA !
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, Thank You for reading our article. Secondly, I am here to share my opinion. Adding to this, I strongly feel that the Indian Cricket Board is powerful enough to help ICC and other cricketing boards during this tough time.
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