IPL franchises set for a global expansion spree

MUMBAI: When the Indian Premier League was first launched, rich and famous folk from the world of business and entertainment took a risk by deciding to run cricket teams for a 6-week T20 league.

- Rasesh Mandani

They called it 'cricketainment' then and most weren't quite sure of what the league would become. Cut to the present, the IPL is an unqualified success and many franchise owners are now looking at cricket as a round-the-year business proposition.

The IPL playing window itself is set to expand up to ten weeks from 2024. Over and above that, eight of the existing ten franchises will be involved in some T20 league or the other in other pockets of the world, next year onwards.

The inflection point was the recent franchise auction for the upcoming Cricket South Africa (CSA) league in which one learns all the six teams up for grabs have gone to team owners from the IPL. Owners of Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Capitals (Parth Jindal), Sunrisers Hyderabad and Lucknow Super Giants won team ownership rights, making the CSA T20, a reunion platform of sorts.