'FTP tours will always take precedence'

Q: You have been working for nearly a year on the Champions League Twenty20 concept. Now that it is officially taking off in September, how has the journey been and how different has it been when compared to setting up the Indian Premier League (IPL)?

A: In the IPL, you are dealing with various issues yourselves and making rules yourselves. Here, you also had to make rules that accommodate everybody. You had to take a consensus from everybody; you had to make plans that are workable for everybody. You had to work with everybody to make a consensus plan. It took a lot of time, a lot of meetings, and a lot of understanding. I think today we have come to a concrete understanding and everybody is on the same page with the original plan that we had proposed. We now look forward to moving ahead and doing the same.

Q: The Champions League had started as a joint undertaking between the BCCI, Cricket Australia (CA), Cricket South Africa (CSA) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). But, now there are just three founding partners, and the ECB is missing. How unfortunate or significant is that development?

A: It's very unfortunate. It's not that the ECB has dropped out, and they may still come in. But there are rules. We had all decided to get in to this tournament with a set of certain rules, and one of them was the issue of ICL players [players associated with the unauthorised Indian Cricket League]. There is no way the BCCI, as such, can participate in any tournament which has those players. Others have compulsions and legal issues which they have to sort out, and only they can address that; I can't. Any tournament that we participate in can only be based on the BCCI's guidelines. But we do hope that England joins us, and Middlesex [the winner of the Twenty20 Cup] joins us. They are a great team, and there are some great players in there. It will make it a wholesome tournament if England can join us. I reiterate that our invitation is still open to them.

Q: The Champions League is still to reveal its share-holding pattern and governing structure, which you had previously said were among the issues the ECB had a problem with. Is it still a secret?

A Yes, it's still a secret. And the governing structure is based on this share-holding pattern.

Q: But it's being said that you are the governor of this league?

A: No, I am not the governor. It will be decided at the first meeting of the governing council. All that I can say about this council is that there are broadly three members [BCCI, CA and CSA] right now, and we have all agreed to go forward. But there will be other members too and that will be based on the participation of various teams in the tournament as we go forward.

Q: Will the entry of another Twenty20 league backed by the BCCI, after the Indian Premier League (IPL), add to the anxiety expressed by some boards that all the money generated by these two tournaments is flowing only towards the BCCI, the players and their agents, and not to the respective boards who release the players?

A: Absolutely not true.

Q: Coming specifically to the Champions League, if a national board allows its players to play in the tournament, how does it benefit?

A: The board gets a participation fee; the clubs get a participation fee. They get a share, which includes the participation fee. I can't specify an amount at this stage but I believe this will run into millions of dollars.

Q: Similarly, there are concerns that the launch of more such leagues will devalue Test cricket in the long run?

A: You've got to understand that we are in no way trying to diminish the FTP [Future Tours Programme] and in no way going to diminish the number of games we are going to play as far as Test cricket is concerned. You've got to understand that club-level cricket has to be given a boost all over the world to produce new cricketers for all formats of the game.

When we started one-day cricket, everybody said Tests will be given a back seat but that did not happen. Even now, we have decided not to play more than one or two Twenty20 matches during a series at the international level. We don't want to increase that at all. Instead, what we want to do is increase games at the club level so that a new generation of cricketers come up, and more cricketers come into the limelight. As you can see, club-level football works and national-level football works. In fact, all sports work at the club level. So there is no reason that club-level sports around the world should not thrive. At the end of the day, it's these clubs that are producing Test cricketers and ODI cricketers. This may not be true in the case of IPL because they are owned by the franchises, but in the case of other boards, whether it is the Titans [South Africa] or Western Australia, they have produced these cricketers. The extra money coming to them now will only enhance their ability to finance and run more cricket and better cricket.

Q: Stepping back from the Champions League, you are seen on one side as a visionary who has given new direction to world cricket, but on the other, you are seen as luring cricketers away from Test cricket for these leagues. For instance, you have a situation in Sri Lanka where the players want to play for IPL rather than participate in a Test tour of England which their board has scheduled.

A: It's untrue. All I would like to say is what we are aiming at with these leagues is putting the best structure, infrastructure and competitions in place so that more and more cricketers in every country can get a chance to showcase their skills. That's what our intention is.

Q: Where do these leagues leave bilateral cricket at the international level? If you have all the major cricketing nations starting their own versions of the IPL, where is the time and space for bilateral cricket?

A: Again, these are club-level tournaments. Nobody is going to compromise from October to March, when you will primarily have the FTP tours taking place, or when we have to play England or West Indies in the summer months. Those will always take precedence. But yes, certain players are going to get affected, as they will have to participate in those tournaments. But we are not going to shorten those windows at all.

Q: This brings us to a curious situation for the Champions League this year when you have Matthew Hayden and Michael Hussey, two key Australian players, having a pre-Test series practice game in India in the middle of the tournament. Has that been resolved?

A: The Australian players will play in the pre-Test practice match, but that's only two players though I understand that they are key players for the franchise too [Chennai Super Kings]. From next year, we will ensure that such a situation doesn't impact the tournament, keeping in mind though that the FTP is primary.

Q: Does this mean that for this year, the Australians might play a few matches for Chennai Super kings, be excused to play the pre-Test practice game, and possibly come back for a game or two in the Champions League?

A: That's right. They can do that.

Q Coming back to the broader picture, what impact does the Champions League have on a tournament like the ICC Champions Trophy? This year, for instance, there are fears that it devalues the Champions Trophy, as it starts just two days after the ICC event?

A: See, the Champions Trophy is another tournament which is at the international level with international-level teams participating, not club-level teams. It's different altogether. It's a national team that's participating in the Champions Trophy, it's about national pride.

Q: Approaching this issue from a different angle, you are widely being credited with conceptualising the current phenomenon of Twenty20 league cricket. If you had to do the same with one-day cricket, to revitalise that format, what would you suggest?

A: I think one-day cricket is on track and will continue to be on track. It's not going down in any way. So that question does not have any relevance. We will make sure that as far we are concerned, we will continue to support one-day cricket and ensure that it continues to thrive.

Q: Finally, there is a view in world cricket today that the BCCI controls the purse-strings to the game and that all it is interested in is generating profits for its own benefit. How would you evaluate this view?

A: This is absolutely untrue. India, though it generates 85% in revenue of global cricket, has always supported other nations. We have gone out of our way to play offshore matches to support other boards, to shore up their revenues. In fact, we have given up more than our share in the Champions League so that other nations can participate. You have to understand that at the end of the day, we are a nation of one billion people. There are other nations who have 10 million, or 15 million or 20 million people. They are 1% of our market and we have given them more than a due share. And we will continue to do that because we can't play by ourselves, we have to play other nations. We have to ensure that other nations have stronger teams going forward.