IPL 2022 | David Lloyd bats in favour of international cricket over franchise model

Former England cricketer and commentator David Lloyd believes that 'alarm bells should be ringing' in the international circuit with the ever-increasing window of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Writing in his column for the Daily Mail UK, the former England coach opined that the lucrative T20 league increasingly threatens the traditional international program.

His comments come in the wake of the recent development that has seen two more teams in Lucknow Supergiants and Gujarat Titans added to the IPL.

As a result, 14 more games will be played in the upcoming 15th season, which is scheduled to take place between March 26-May 29.

With South African internationals like Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Aiden Markram, Marco Jansen, Rassie van der Dussen choosing the IPL over a two-match Test series against Bangladesh and as many as 12 first-choice New Zealand cricketers set to miss the ODI series against the Netherlands, which is scheduled for later this month.

Lloyd thinks that the T20 league is 'disrupting' the international calendar.

"The alarm bells should be ringing. Already, South Africa’s full attack is not available for upcoming Tests against Bangladesh; and New Zealand have 12 men ruled out of selection versus Afghanistan. Make no mistake, the IPL is disrupting the traditional international programme.” wrote Lloyd.

Lloyd is not the first former English cricketer to voice his concerns over the same. Last November, former English skipper and noted pundit, Mike Atherton also voiced the same concerns in his column for the Times. 

"The calendar cannot contain the competing demands of international and franchise cricket as it is now,” the former England captain had said.

"India will want a longer window and, who knows, maybe the owners will eventually want a second station carved out of the schedule. Cricketers will follow the money, if the market is left unchecked, and the least profitable aspects of the game will suffer - notably Test cricket among countries with small television markets." Bumble added.

The 15th season of the IPL is expected to be bigger than ever. It will be played across four different venues in Maharashtra. The opening game will take place between defending champions Chennai Super Kings and two-time winner Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on March 26.