Shahid Afridi claims India has a big influence on world cricket: Whatever they will say will happen

Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi has claimed that India has a big influence on world cricket and said the reason behind it is that the country is the biggest market for the sport.

Afridi was talking about the recently-concluded IPL and its two and a half month window. This does have an impact on international cricket as well as the Pakistan FTP schedule.

The former Pakistan star said that India is dominant enough to have such a timeframe for the league. He said that everything boils down to the market and the economy. Afridi further commented that India is the biggest market for cricket at the moment and whatever they say will happen.

“It all comes down to the market and the economy. The biggest [cricket] market is India. Whatever they will say will happen,” said Afridi.

Last week, it was announced that the broadcasting rights for IPL was sold close to $ 6.2 billion for the next five years. This made it one of the richest leagues in world sports.

Disney Star retained the TV rights in the subcontinent for Rs. 23,575 crore while Viacom 18 secured the digital rights for the same area and broadcasting rights across three global regions (Australia + New Zealand, South Africa and the UK) for Rs. 23,758 crore.

The overall deal for the new cycle is 2.96 times more than the previous deal (2018-22), which had gone for 16,347.5 crores at the time. The old cycle comprised of 60 games per season.

However, for the new cycle, which will be starting from next year, the IPL has listed a varying number of matches for each season. The 2023 and 24 seasons will have 74 games, while the 2025 and 26 seasons will have 84 each. The final year of the deal, in 2027, will have a maximum of 94 matches.Live TV