Former Australia wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist has questioned the growing dominance of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises in world cricket and said the current trend of “monopolisation” by them is dangerous.
Gilchrist's remarks came amid reports suggesting that Australian batter David Warner might opt to play for the United Arab Emirates T20 league over Big Bash League (BBL).
"They can't force David Warner to play in BBL, I understand that, but to let him then go off - or another player, let's not single out Warner because there will be other players on the radar - it's all part of this global dominance that these IPL franchises are starting to create given they own a number of teams in Caribbean Premier League," said Gilchrist.
"It's getting a little bit dangerous the grip that it's having to monopolise that ownership and the ownership of the players and their talents and where they can and can't play,"
Gilchrist opined that country’s cricket board should take cognizance of the matter as more cricketers could take Warner’s path sooner than later.
“If he (Warner) rides off into the sunset and says, ‘Sorry Australian cricket, I’m going to become a gun for hire for my Indian franchise team in various tournaments’ you can’t question him on that, that’s his prerogative and he’s done everything he needs to get the profile and get that market value,” Gilchrist said.
“It’s the new younger player coming in that starts to make those noises where it’ll be really challenging,” he added.
