BCCI signals revival of offshore cricket with T20s in America
India and West Indies have agreed to play a two-match T20 international series on August 27 and 28.
In Short
- India and West Indies have agreed to play two T20Is in Florida.
- India are currently touring West Indies for a four-Test series.
- BCCI has identified the potential of the US market and wants to play there more regularly.
Cricket in America sounds just right for a sport long trying to widen it's global outreach.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) would only be too happy to see the game's biggest draw, Indian cricket team face off against the recently-crowned World T20 champions, West Indies in a two-match T20 series on August 27 and 28 in Florida.
For the cricket starved Indian expatriates who have settled in USA, it would be a mouth-watering prospect to see the likes of MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli live in action.
For the BCCI, it has identified the potential of the US market and wants to play there more regularly.
"We will play on a regular basis to build that market. We will capitalise in the long term," BCCI president Anurag Thakur told India Today.
BCCI could not pull off its 'mini IPL overseas' plans this year but the US market could be potentially an option in the future for such a tournament as venues and ground conditions improve there.
Cricket All Stars, a T20 series for veteran greats conceptualised by Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne was successfully played at Central Broward Regional Park and stadium in Florida last year. Besides some Carribean Premier league games and a few international T20 games between New Zealand and Sri Lanka have also been played at the venue.
BCCI would also use this as an opportunity to make up from the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) some of the lost revenue after their team left a India tour mid way in 2014 following an internal pay dispute.
The BCCI had then demanded Rs 250 crore as damages from WICB for estimated losses accounted from loss of media rights, title rights, instadia rights, kit and team sponsorships revenue with 3 Tests, 1 ODI and a T20 of the tour having to be cancelled.
This was confirmed to India Today by a top BCCI source. "This will be like a home series for us being played off shore," he said.
With the BCCI marketing committee to meet in Delhi on August 5, broadcast and title rights tenders could be floated then.
These games also signal revival of cricket in offshore (non Test playing) venues by the BCCI after a decade. Ten years back the Zee group had agreed to pay a whopping Rs 1,000 crore for 25 matches to be played at offshore venues over five years, a deal which went kaput after Zee scrapped the contract mid way after losing exclusivity following a court order.
While Rs 40 crore per match then was considered a overvalued deal, with Star India now paying the BCCI Rs 43 crore per match for the sub-continent rights it enjoys for international cricket played in India, that's the least the BCCI may be expecting from these two games.