“The biggest thing that India has is the people who watch the game, they’re the ones who pay a lot of money”- Aakash Chopra
New Delhi: Former India international Aakash Chopra gives a fitting reply to Ramiz Raja after the latter commented that ‘We’ll see who goes to play the IPL over the PSL’ comments. The PCB chairman’s comments came after he expressed desire to shift the PSL model to auction method.
Chopra replied to the former Pakistan cricketer’s comment that even if there is an PSL auction, no player will be sold at a price of 16 crore as the market dynamics won’t allow it to happen there.
“There’s money from selling rights; on the basis of that, you analyse the value of the league and the value of the teams. Then, you divide the purse and start the league, whether by auction or by draft. Ramiz bhai says that if there’s an auction in the PSL, the price limit will increase which is the case. But you won’t see a player being sold for ₹16 crore in PSL. It is not possible. Market dynamics are not going to allow that to happen. It’s as simple as that,” he said on his YouTube channel.
He added that the population also plays a big factor as India is blessed with a population of 130 crores, something which the PSL lacks.
“The biggest thing that India has is the people who watch the game, they’re the ones who pay a lot of money. Our population of 130 crores is an asset,” said Aakash.
“You don’t have 100 crore people. Suppose Rohit Sharma plays in the PSL. Do you think the broadcaster, who was, let’s assume, earlier paying 7000 crores, will suddenly increase the money to ₹35,000 crore? It isn’t as if more people in Pakistan will start watching because a Virat Kohli or a Rohit Sharma is playing in PSL. You can maybe consider a 10 percent increase in viewership from the NRIs, but that is not going to suddenly increase your valuation,” he explained.
“India have the audience. It’s not down to the Indian players. It is not down to the player salaries, it is not down to auction or draft. I don’t think anyone can compete with the Indian Premier League. So, Ramiz bhai, with all due respect, the truth is that cricket economics is not going to work with draft or auction.”
