Australian captain Pat Cummins has conceded that the Indian Premier League (IPL) has now a greater hold on the players than international cricket, given the million-dollar contracts offered by the franchises worldwide. However, he believes the players can't be blamed for taking up the lucrative contracts.
Last year in August, New Zealand bowling sensation Trent Boult relinquished his central contract to make himself available for franchise opportunities. A few months later, his fellow countryman 36-year-old opener Martin Guptill, also followed the same route to explore franchise opportunities.
Cummins observed that international cricket's monopoly over IPL changed a decade ago and expects it to keep changing in the future.
"It's been coming for a while, but I think it is here now. International cricket doesn't have a monopoly on players' time, like it did in the past. The IPL changed that a decade ago, but there's just going to be more and more content that creeps in, so I think we've got to be more proactive about that. When you're talking about some of the opportunities that may be provided through these franchises, I don't think you can blame the players that might take the option," the right-arm speedster said, as quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald.
Pat Cummins keen to see more players compete for the national spot:
The 29-year-old further claimed that it is up to the players now to set an example for the younger generation to play for Australia moving forward. He added:
"We have to keep making playing for Australia as special as we can, keeping a high performance to get every single player wanting to play for Australia as much as we can. That's going to be the challenge. I think it's upon us now and we've got to start thinking about that quite deeply. I think fast forward a few years time, international calendar might look a little bit different."
Meanwhile, Cummins is gearing up for the World Test Championship (WTC) final, starting on June 7th at The Oval.
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