Sundar Raman: Can't disrupt world cricket for own interests

Sundar Raman

After the suggestion of a revamp in the ICC by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), England Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket Australia, Indian Premier League’s chief operating officer, Sundar Raman who was also formed part of the ‘working group’ for ICC’s financial and administrative re-establishment, indicated that the main focus of the revamp was on ‘reinventing’ the FTP.

Raman’s main focus of dialogue was the international calendar and the planning that went behind it.

“If India say, ‘forget everything, we will play at home December-January-February’, my exaggerated view is that world cricket will collapse,” Raman said.

“Australia will not have a Boxing Day Test, South Africa will not have a season, Sri Lanka will not have a Test. So you are treading on a territory… India has to be accommodative.” he attached.

Raman further went on to say, “We can’t disrupt world cricket so much at the cost of our own interest. Truth is, Australia don’t tour for more than four weeks at a time except for the Ashes. India is happy to go on long tours. We want to have minimum two home seasons every year, but it’s tough with the different weather conditions.”

“We are trying to figure the best way out so that all 26 stadiums in India get a game. It’s got to have Tests and one-dayers every year and we are planning in such a way that we prepare better for big events. Before the World T20, we’ll play more T20s. Before the World Cup, we’ll play more ODIs. We’re trying to reinvent the whole FTP. And you know every year there’s IPL and Champions League T20,” he said.

“India used to be the first to tour Australia when we were not the best revenue earner for Australia. West Indies would play the Boxing Day Test but India would play in November. In England, India was the May-June team, which was at the beginning of the season. Things have changed,” he stated. “I think the calendar is pretty well planned. We’ve worked very hard to get more home matches for Indian fans.”

On being asked about the changes made in the IPL, Raman explained: “The four-player retention in 2011 was done because two new teams were coming in. They needed a bouquet of players to pick from. The current regulation is after feedback from the franchises. Every franchise will think about their team, not the league. We wanted the core of the teams to stay.”

“The percentage of salary deducted is based on extensive data analysis. This time it was 65%. Four-player retention meant a 50% cut, but that was a $US 9 million purse. So, percentage wise, it became even harder to retain players. Some teams retained all five. We also had a Right to Match card, which was again a feedback from the franchises. All Right to Match cards were used by all the franchises. On an average, eight-and-a-half players were bought back by the franchises. So all teams got to retain eight players.” he added.

Raman spoke of various other changes made in the IPL but his primary urge was for India to adopt an “accomodative” stance so that world cricket does not collapse.