IPL lags Hundred, SA20 in player welfare, rights assessment: WCA

NEW DELHI, March 19 : The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a financial juggernaut that spawned a slew of franchise leagues around the world but the elite T20 competition still has room to improve in terms of players' rights and welfare, according to an assessment by the global players body.

The World Cricketers' Association (WCA) rankings released on Thursday put the IPL (62.6) third of 10 leagues, behind England's The Hundred (75.2) and South Africa's SA20 (68).

The world's richest 20-overs tournament received maximum points for average payment and payment reliability but lagged in areas such as "right to organise" and "dispute resolutions".

Devajit Saikia, secretary of the Indian cricket board which runs the IPL, was not immediately available for comment.

WCA Chief Executive Tom Moffat said in a statement on Thursday that while cricket had benefited from the increasing numbers of domestic competitions in recent years, it was important to ensure players were taken care of.

"The growth of the domestic leagues landscape has been overwhelmingly positive for our sport, but it has the potential to be even better," he said.

"We want all sanctioned leagues to be successful, and to provide fair protections and standards for people within them."

The IPL came in for criticism in January when Bangladesh player Mustafizur Rahman was dropped by Kolkata Knight Riders amid tensions between the South Asian neighbours.

The Indian board's policy of banning contracted male players from appearing in other franchise leagues around the world has also come in for criticism.  

The 19th edition of the IPL gets underway on March 28 with defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru hosting 2016 winners Sunrisers Hyderabad.