"I hope they’ll look after the rest of the world game" - Mike Gatting labels BCCI as 'powerhouse'
Former England captain Mike Gatting hopes for the BCCI to look after the rest of the cricketing nations, considering the money they have. The former right-handed batter said that the England Cricket Board never had the kind of money the BCCI do, crediting the Indian Premier League for it.
The IPL has arguably been the most prominent breeding ground for young cricketers. The cash-rich competition has not only put Indian cricketers on the map but also overseas cricketers and catapulted them to play for their national team.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Gatting suggested that India deserve a majority of share from the ICC but hopes that the BCCI uses it well.
"One country has never had this amount of money. Even if India said, ‘We’ll settle for a quarter of the global revenue instead of 38 per cent’, that’s a lot of money you’re freeing up to help countries in need. Today, the BCCI will always be the powerhouse. But I hope they’ll look after the rest of the world game."
Since 2015, the influx of English cricketers in the IPL has grown tremendously. The likes of Jos Buttler, Eoin Morgan, Liam Livingstone, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran and Mark Wood have delivered compelling performances. Morgan has also credited the lucrative league for the resurgence in England cricket's white-ball performances.
Mike Gatting reminds that international stars wouldn't have been big names had they not played Test cricket
Gatting said that the IPL's success largely boils down to international stars first making their name at their top level. Hence, Gatting reckons it's the BCCI's responsibility to support the member nations.
"Perhaps India will turn around and say, ‘When England were running the game, we never earned much money from our matches against them.’ But I also believe that the TCCB – as the ECB was back in the day – would reach out to support other nations when they needed it.
"I’d ask the BCCI to remember how much of a contribution the overseas players made to the IPL’s success, whether we’re talking about AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle or Lasith Malinga. Those guys wouldn’t have been such big names, nor such great players, if they hadn’t come up through Test cricket."
Malinga was notably the highest wicket-taker in IPL history and largely contributed to Mumbai Indians' dominance.