Dubai: On the back of the highly successful IPL 2020 in the UAE, Rahul Dravid, the former India skipper, has called for expansion of the Indian Premier League in terms of number of teams to help promote and tap the talent available in India.
There are suggestions that next year’s IPL will feature a larger number of teams. There are eight teams at the moment and the BBCI are reportedly looking at nine in 2021 and possibly 10 teams by 2023.
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Dravid, who is now the director of National Cricket Academy (NCA), said that if there are more teams, all the talented players could be accommodated and there won’t be a drop in quality and many talented youngsters in India are not getting a chance with the limited number of franchises and the lure of big-name foreign stars such as Jofra Archer, Kagiso Rabada, AB de Villiers, Trent Boult, Steve Smith, Ben Stokes and David Warner.
“I feel IPL is ready for expansion in terms of talent, if you look from talent perspective. There are a lot of talented players who are not getting an opportunity to play,” he said.
“So I believe we are ready as there are lot of new names and faces in terms of talent perspective,” Dravid said during the virtual launch of Rajasthan Royals co-owner Manoj Badale book ‘A New Innings’, which he co-authored with former English cricketer Simon Hughes.
Badale, as a stakeholder in the IPL, welcomed the idea of expansion and also spoke about various aspects that needs to be factored in.
“The BCCI needs to take a decision and they will take a call on what would be the exact approach. Making a nine-team league in 2021 is definitely possible but as a consequence, you will have to have more afternoon games and maintain quality of the competition.”