Ramiz Raja was recently trending all over social media for his bold claims. The chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) went on to compare the Indian T20 league to the Pakistan Super League. Raja spoke about a major change in the model of Pakistan's T20 league.
While speaking about changing the draft system and having an auction model instead, he said that this would help the PSL be in the same bracket as the Indian T20 league. Raja also said that if PSL do implement it, then the players would choose Pakistan's T20 league over the cash-rich league. A lot of experts went on to give their opinion on his statement.
Aakash Chopra seemingly disagreed with Raja's claims. He stated that the market dynamics wouldn't propel a player to go for 16 crores in the PSL. While speaking on his YouTube channel, Chopra cited the example of Chris Morris to explain how no other league can match the players' salary in the Indian T20 League.
"The price is decided based on how much money you get from the rights, at what price the teams are sold and then there is a total purse according to which you play. All these are interlinked. Even if you do an auction instead of drafts, it is not going to happen. You will not see a player playing for 16 crores in the PSL. It cannot happen at all, market dynamics are not going to allow that to happen, it’s as simple as that,” said Aakash Chopra on his YouTube channel.
“To be very honest, Chris Morris’ one ball, when he played last time, was more expensive than the players’ salary in other leagues. Is it even possible to compete or compare yourself with the ITL, whether it is PSL, BBL, The Hundred or the CPL? Is it a slightly misplaced judgment?” he added.
It is to be noted that the PSL started in 2016 and since then, has gone on to become a very popular league. However, The Indian T20 league has been taking place since 2008 and the revenues it has generated is simply out of this world. According to a report by India Today, the media rights value for the biggest T20 league in the world between 2018 and 2022 is a whopping INR 16.375 crores.