Aravinda De Silva urges BCCI to allow Indian stars participate in global T20 leagues

Due to the lack of Indian stars, T20 leagues around the globe have failed to attract much audience, while the Indian Premier League (IPL) continues to grow with each passing year.

The former Sri Lanka legend Aravinda de Silva has called for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to allow its cricketers to participate in other leagues, enabling the game to grow in smaller regions while raising the standards of the tournament.

According to AFP, de Silva said, "If you have one dominating country, you can see from the IPL, they basically run a monopoly on the premier leagues because the Indian cricketers are not allowed to play in other leagues.

So what will probably happen is that the standard -- if it keeps dropping and if there is no real competition -- at some point it's going to affect the global game. Unless (India) find a way to support the other countries and get them up to grips with the kind of support levels which the game requires nowadays, it's a negative for the cricket world."

He also urged the International Cricket Council (ICC) to raise awareness about the sport on the global stage.

"It's the (world governing body) ICC's responsibility to make sure that it's done in a manner where these countries keep developing, otherwise we don't want a situation like Zimbabwe and South Africa, how they dipped from their standard of cricket," de Silva said. 

A pivotal part of Sri Lanka's 1996 World Cup-winning campaign, De Silva likened today's franchise cricket to County Cricket, which saw an influx of foreign players in the 90s.

"It's like the county cricket of those days which gave the English cricketers the advantage. The IPL, Big Bash or in England the Hundred and T20 Blitz, those are tournaments which allow players to develop," said de Silva, who played for Kent County Club in 1995.

De Silva also thanked the Australian cricket team, who are visiting the economically-struggling Sri Lanka and will play their final tour match on 8th July.

"We definitely saw the passion even with all these issues, we had some full houses during the one-day series. (I am) thankful to the Australians who decided to come and bring some smiles to the Sri Lankan people. It was amazing. My heartfelt gratitude goes to them," he concluded.