It looks like the BCCI is planning their own The Hundred. Colin Graves, the ECB’s outgoing chairman has claimed that several countries and especially the BCCI seems to be particularly interested. The Hundred has the potential to generate millions in revenue for the ECB. Hence, the BCCI wants to tap into that.
What is The Hundred?
The Hundred is an Eight Team Hundred Ball competition that was designed by the English Cricket Board. The ECB seems to be off the opinion that this will bring new audience to watch the game. Each team will feature 15 players with a maximum of 3 overseas players. One over consists of 10 balls and each bowler is allowed to bowl a maximum of 20 balls.
I am not so sure whether this is revolutionary or one of those money making exercise. One thing is certain. It is one more tournament where the bowlers are basically considered excessive to the requirement. It is another tournament where the bowlers will be treated as second-class citizens.
Colin Graves’s claim
“I know that some of the countries abroad, India in particular, are looking at their own,” Graves told Sky Sports, on the first day of the final Test between England and Pakistan in Southampton. “They have been talking to me about it for the last year on a regular basis. So around the world it has created a lot of excitement.”
Thankfully, atleast one of the stalwarts of modern day cricket is against this format. Virat Kohli feels that the commercial aspect of the game is taking precedence over the quality of the game. This is absolutely true. It is really brave of Kohli to come out and say what he feels about one more nonsense format.
Will BCCI ever stop their greed for money?
Now, BCCI is very much interested in this concept. This is not really a surprise because where there is money you will be able to find BCCI. Over the last 15-20 years, BCCI is much more interested in making money from every source possible rather than the improving the performance of the national team and the standard of the first class game or in improving the livelihood of the women cricketers. Why would BCCI want to invest in such a concept is beyond me.
They are already the richest cricketing board and probably among the top 3 sporting bodies in the world. The board does not seem to be satisfied with the millions that they earn through TV rights for bi-lateral series, they are not satisfied with the millions that they earn through IPL and not to mention the exorbitant share that they receive from the ICC from global tournaments like World Cup, T20 World Cup & Champions Trophy. Still, the BCCI’s greed never seems to be satisfied.
It is not that The Hundred is BCCI’s own concept. For that matter, none of the concept is BCCI’s brainchild. Tests, English invention, ODIs English & Australian, T20 English and now The Hundred, English. I could have understood the need to create a brand if The Hundred was conceptualised by the BCCI but it is not. They are merely copycats.
Where will this new format leave the game in the country?
The answer for this is pretty simple. The BCCI will create one more two-month tournament, probably during November & December. They will add few more franchises and will have another set of auction to pick mercenaries. The board will also arm twist the ICC and other boards with their muscle and will make ICC announce a separate window for The Indian Hundred. It will ensure that the key players from other teams can also participate in the new tournament.
Between October and March is the traditional period for the Indian first class tournaments. By having such a tournament right in the middle of the season, BCCI will kill the first class structure. Now the first class players will have two tournaments to tune their game. They will not be worried about the traditional format and will want to modify their game that is suited towards IPL or The Indian Hundred.
Ofcourse, it is hard to blame them afterall their cricketing career is even less than the international player and they will have to make the best out of that. There was a time when Ranji Trophy games used to attract a decent crowd but it is not the case any longer mainly because of the year around Cricket played by the Indian team and later because of IPL. With the introduction of The Hundred, this will go down even further.
No offseason to work on performance improvement
Already, a major part of the usual offseason between March & July is taken over by IPL. It is precisely because of that Indian players no longer find the time to work on their weakness during the offseason. It is one reason the likes of Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma and a few others have taken more than 10 years to learn the game and that too at the international level. Once The Indian Hundred is introduced, four months will be taken out of the calendar every year which means that it will be impossible to work on someone’s weakness and become a better cricketer even at the first class level. This will ensure that the supply chain to the international team is either disturbed or substandard players are selected which will further weaken the performance of the national team.
Saurav Ganguly has failed once again
I have said this before and I will say this again. Saurav Ganguly is the biggest disappointment of all the BCCI presidents.
Conclusion
The sooner The BCCI cat is belled, the better it is for the entire cricketing world. I do not see a great deal of enthusiasm for the game in other countries to challenge the might of BCCI. The only remedy will be if 3-4 sports gains enormous popularity in the country and the sponsorships, the endorsements and other perks are diverted to these games. Only then the BCCI will wake up and will want to improve the game and the international image of its team.
If you think BCCI can go ahead with their own version of The Hundred, comment below.