By IANS
London : Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Lalit Modi says he wants to enter into a partnership with an English premier league in order to enable star England players to compete in the Indian championship.
“Our players are contracted only to the IPL, but as long as an English premier league was not played at the same time as ours, then I see no problem with partnership. I think it’s a good idea,” he told the Observer newspaper in an interview published Sunday.
His comments came amid reports that the three men running cricket in England will be visiting India at the start of the IPL championship next week.
Unlike football, there is no English premier league for cricket. However, the formation of the billion-dollar IPL, which has thrown domestic cricket in England into a state of crisis, has led to suggestions that England should set up a cricket league modelled on that of the IPL.
An England premier league would allow the IPL to field such star England players as Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff.
The England and Wales Cricket Board has banned all players contracted to it from playing in the IPL, saying the schedule of the Indian championship – running for six weeks from the second half of April – clashes with the English domestic season.
Meanwhile, a top ECB delegation will be in India to watch the IPL championship, which kicks off in Bangalore with a tie between the Kolkata Knight Riders and Bangalore Royal Challengers.
The delegation will comprise chief executive David Collier, chairman, Giles Clarke and commercial director John Perera, the Sunday Times reported.
They are to be followed by teams of county cricket administrators who also plan to witness the IPL in action.