NEWS
Follow UsWest Indian legend Chris Gayle, in an explosive rant, has called for cricket’s authorities to afford more power to the players, who he feels are right now powerless in the current system that’s in place, with them caught in the power struggle between the BCCI and the home boards.
In an extended chat with Jamie Alter in DafaNews’ Spirit of Cricket podcast, the former all-rounder addressed the ‘one-sided’ nature of the existing system, where contracted players are essentially dictated what they should be doing and where they must be playing.
He quoted the example of players being pulled from the Indian Premier League (IPL) mid-way through the competition to make his case.
“When the IPL is going on, you see players who have to leave the tournament to go play for their countries. If you have an IPL window [then] it should just be the IPL in that window. You shouldn’t have international cricket during that time frame, because there’s only one team that’s going to benefit, and that's India. That’s unfair. You cannot have a system like that,” Gayle said, speaking in the ‘Spirit of Cricket’ podcast.
“If it’s a World Cup window, then it’s just that, nothing else. Same for the IPL. If you want the best players in the world to be playing in the IPL, the biggest franchise in history, then you have to allow them to play in that particular window without interference like international cricket. You cannot pull players out of such a big franchise tournament, because it’s unfair and too one-sided.”
Gayle asserted that he foresees more players choosing between international cricket and franchise cricket due to the twisted nature of the existing system. The 44-year-old attested that international cricket will ‘lose’ to battle to IPL and franchise cricket if the elephant in the room is not addressed quickly.
“It’s gotta be a call from the players at some particular stage, saying ‘I’ve gotta choose IPL over international cricket’. It might happen later on. It’s actually happening already in franchise cricket already, where players are retiring from international cricket,” Gayle said.
“You’re going to get more and more players retiring from international cricket [in the near future]. International cricket is going to lose if they don’t say we’re going to call a spade a spade and be frank, and try and put these things together so that everyone can be happy. But it’s a one-sided affair now. There is no loyalty in business.”
The elephant in the room, in Gayle’s own words, is the fact of India and BCCI effectively ruling world cricket due to the power they possess. The former all-rounder believes it’s impossible for the players to challenge the BCCI and India, regarding anything, due to the power the board/country holds.
“No one can speak to India. India run cricket. You have to face reality, it’s facts. Who is going to talk to India? Who is going to challenge India? No one. They run cricket. It’s not as simple as players saying, ‘Hey, we’re gonna form a union and stamp our authority’. You have the Players Association, but I’m not sure if they can do anything at all.
“The Indian players, the top players, cannot come and play in any other franchise league like the CPL or BPL. The Indian players are not allowed to do that unless you’re retired. But the biggest stars in the other territories are allowed to play in the IPL. So you put two and two together, you get your answer there.
“It’s always going to be a win-win situation [for India]. They worship the game in India. The TV rights, everything depends on India. India is the place. You have to call a spade a spade. India is the place.”
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