Indian cricket shapes the world game yet they have now gone 11 years without a trophy as big game misjudgments continue to cost them
Indian cricket should be dominating world cricket. By bank balance it already is: the last Indian Premier League deal went for more than US$6bn (£5.1bn), the season will soon expand to 94 matches, its timeframe will eat up more of the southern season, pushing earlier into March and perhaps even February. Its franchises have already taken January by buying up new leagues in South Africa and the United Arab Emirates, the same organisations are eyeing up the Hundred in England and the Big Bash in Australia should private investment be invited, and as salary caps increase they will soon be able to pay players amounts that even the richest national boards cannot match.
For all of that, hegemony on the field has not yet been established. Logic suggests that it will: the success of the Indian Premier League means that scouts are now touring their own vast country, searching for new talent to be developed, while more players in lower competitions give their all to chase the possibility of a cricket career with so many more jobs available. The players selected are put into high-level professional environments, training with some of the best coaches and teammates in the world. Every advance made by a local player benefits the Indian national setup.
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