DUBAI-Ehsan Mani, the previous Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), has expressed his worries about the way forward for worldwide cricket following the revelation that the Board of Management for Cricket in India (BCCI) will obtain a good portion of the Worldwide Cricket Council’s (ICC) $three billion media rights deal for 2024-2027.
Below the brand new income distribution mannequin, the BCCI is slated to obtain 38.5 p.c of the web surplus earnings from the ICC, a considerable improve in comparison with their present 22 p.c share within the 2015-2023 deal, in keeping with ESPNcricinfo.
In an unique interview with Forbes, Mani, who served because the ICC President from 2003 to 2006 and stepped down from the PCB in 2021, criticized the proposed mannequin, stating, “The proposed income distribution mannequin might be giving essentially the most cash to the nation that wants it the least, which is senseless. I feel it’s very unlucky. There’s no strategic fascinated with the event of the worldwide sport. There’s no imaginative and prescient.”
The previous ICC chief emphasised the necessity for cricket to broaden past its conventional base and cut back its reliance on India. He said, “It solely takes one downtown in an financial cycle for the ICC members to be affected. There’s far an excessive amount of reliance on India.”
He additional steered that the US ought to be the nation to develop with the intention to obtain a very international sport. “I’d have put $20-30 million into the U.S. You additionally must develop the sport in Africa; that’s the long run. I feel the worldwide sport (Associates) ought to have been allotted at the very least 30 p.c (as a substitute of 11 p.c). That’s the one strategy to globalize the sport.”
Mani additionally referred to as for monetary parity among the many 12 full members of the ICC, advocating for a good distribution of assets fairly than favoring India. “You need to give international locations sufficient assets to not solely develop their gamers however to pay them a good quantity, particularly with the IPL and different T20 leagues focusing on gamers,” he defined.
He emphasised that India’s market brings in vital income however highlighted that the advantages lengthen past the Indian governing physique, stating, “It’s not the BCCI (India’s governing physique). There are advantages to Indian firms to promote within the ICC occasions and worldwide. India just isn’t taking part in by itself; they’re taking part in in opposition to different members. It’s a two-way road.”
Expressing disappointment with the shortage of resistance to India’s dominance, Mani remarked, “Sadly, there’s no urge for food for international locations to face as much as India. The governance assessment, which was mentioned after I was on board, has gone quiet. I don’t suppose there ought to be greater than 12 board members, and at the very least seven of them ought to be unbiased administrators. The administrators of the ICC want to face up and have a look at the place they’re taking this sport. They’re guardians of the worldwide sport. They don’t act like that typically,” he concluded.