Quit International Cricket: IPL Franchises Offer 6 English Players With Multi-Million Pound Deal

Owners of top IPL franchises are trying to convince as many as six premier England players to quit international cricket and take up handsome annual contracts ranging up to 5 million pounds in order to play T20 leagues round the year, the 'Times London' reported. Almost all the 10 IPL franchises have branched out in various leagues, including CPL (West Indies), SA T20 (South Africa), Global T20 League (UAE) and the upcoming Major League T20 in the US. The report, however, doesn't state which are the franchise that have approached and who are the players involved in the discussion.

There will also be an ambitious Saudi T20 league where some of the IPL franchises might be investing.

'The Times' report quotes: "Initial discussions have taken place after at least six English players, including some international stars, were approached by IPL franchise owners and asked whether, in principle, they would accept a deal that would make an Indian team their main employer, rather than the ECB or an English county." "This development follows discussions among players' unions around the world about the potential implications of 12-month franchise contracts, which would be a significant step towards the football model of elite players being primarily contracted to their team and released for international duty, rather than the other way around.

"One source told The Times that contract offers could come as soon as the end of the year." There is no doubt that T20 cricket is here to stay and T10 is also fast catching the imagination of the public.

While ICC has always thought about putting a cap on the number of leagues that an active contracted player can take part in a year, one can't rule out a possibility of a lot of young players