Quit International Cricket: IPL franchises sound out 6 English players with multi-million pound deal
London, Apr 26: Owners of top IPL franchises are trying to convince as many as six premier England players to quit international cricket and take up handsome annual contracts ranging up to 5 million pounds in order to play T20 leagues round the year, the 'Times London' reported.
Almost all the 10 IPL franchises have branched out in various leagues, including CPL (West Indies), SA T20 (South Africa), Global T20 League (UAE) and the upcoming Major League T20 in the US.
The report, however, doesn't state which are the franchise that have approached and who are the players involved in the discussion.
There will also be an ambitious Saudi T20 league where some of the IPL franchises might be investing.
'The Times' report quotes: "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."
"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.
"One source told The Times that contract offers could come as soon as the end of the year."
There is no doubt that T20 cricket is here to stay and T10 is also fast catching the imagination of the public.
While ICC has always thought about putting a cap on the number of leagues that an active contracted player can take part in a year, one can't rule out a possibility of a lot of young players either retiring from international cricket or giving up on central contracts to become free agents. The only hurdle in such a scenario could be 'NOC' from the respective country's cricket board.
"The probability of such a model being adopted has grown increasingly likely in recent years as some IPL franchise owners have bought stakes in several T20 tournaments in the UAE, South Africa, Caribbean and now the United States with the new Major League Cricket venture which begins in July," the newspaper was quoted as saying.
The paper also claimed that a discussion on similar lines took place with star Australian T20 specialists also.
"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."
The paper also spoke about the possibility of having partial contracts both with ECB or county and the IPL franchise, especially, the ones who play white-ball cricket.
"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.
"What is more likely is that players will arrange "bespoke" deals depending on their own circumstances, which could result in them being part-contracted to their county or the ECB and part-contracted to a franchise."
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India & Israel elevate ties to special strategic partnership, vow to soon conclude free trade deal
Jerusalem (PTI): India and Israel on Thursday elevated their "time-tested" relationship to a special strategic partnership and agreed to soon firm up a "mutually beneficial" free trade deal even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly backed the Gaza peace initiative, asserting that humanity must never become a victim of conflict.
Following talks between Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, the two sides inked a plethora of agreements to expand cooperation in areas of trade, agriculture, energy, cyberspace and digital payment.
India and Israel also vowed to expand their already close defence partnership by working towards joint development and joint production of military hardware under the framework of the transfer of technologies.
In his media statement, Modi said India's security interest is linked to peace and stability in the Middle East, adding that New Delhi fully supports the Gaza Peace Initiative.
"India's stance is clear: humanity must never become a victim of conflict. A path to peace has been created through the Gaza Peace Plan. India has fully supported these efforts," he said.
"In the future as well, we will continue dialogue and cooperation with all countries," he said.
PM Modi landed in Israel on Wednesday on a two-day visit. It is his second visit to Israel in nine years.
In his remarks, the prime minister said India and Israel have a united view that there is no place for terrorism in the world and both sides stand shoulder-to-shoulder in countering terrorism and its supporters.
"Our relationship is founded on the strong bedrock of deep trust, shared democratic values, and human sensitivities. Our bond has stood the test of every trial of time," he said.
"Today, we have taken the historic decision to elevate our time-tested partnership to the status of a 'Special Strategic Partnership'," he said.
The prime minister also announced the establishment of an India-Israel critical and emerging technologies partnership to impart a new momentum for cooperation in areas of artificial intelligence, quantum, and critical minerals. "I am pleased that an agreement has been reached for the use of UPI in Israel," he said.
The prime minister, referring to the threat of terrorism, said India and Israel will continue to confront the menace unitedly.
"India and Israel are completely clear that there is no place for terrorism in the world. In any form, in any expression, terrorism cannot be accepted," he said.
"We have stood shoulder-to-shoulder in opposing terrorism and its supporters, and we will continue to do so," he added.
India and Israel also discussed the implementation of the India-Middle East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and cooperation under the framework of I2U2 (India-Israel-UAE-USA).
