(11-20-2020, 12:04 PM)Ramesh Wrote: With players pulling out left right and centre, there seem to be new replacements announced everyday.
For instance, Karim Sadiq and Aftab Alam from Afg. These guys aren’t even regulars for Afghanistan. Nor are they wrist spinning prodigies or anything like that. There are a bunch of no-name Pakistanis too and retired indians too. Surely we are better off playing more locals than handing out cash to medium pacies from abroad?? Unless Russell , Amir or one of the few decent guys we have can do something big early on, this will really struggle to pull eyeballs from across the world.
SLC would operate at a major loss if it were to only rely on local viewership. No point in running the tournament if investors don't get some returns. More players from more countries mean higher viewership. It all snowballs into a bigger effect, if viewership doesn't get many views, advertisers and sponsors won't be there next year as it simply won't be worth it for them. Then broadcasters won't wont to bid for the next time or bid at a much lower cost. Then sacrifices will have to be made elsewhere. This all plays a role in having a successful tournament. When GT20 Canada was running, they paid Faf, Gayle, Russell, Yuvi, Malinga and some other players $350,000 to party and skip practices. More of them means more views from Indian market. Every six was "Canada Dry Six" and at the end of the tournament, the Canada Dry(Soda company) said they were getting inquiry from India about their products. Whether it materialized or not is a different story but the point is the international market is money. Neutrals would rather see unknown Afghan, Pak, Canadian and WI players than bunch of unknown sri lankan players. The viewership wants flavour. It's business.