Indian legend MS Dhoni could be the next big-name player to join Australia’s ever-growing Big Bash League (BBL) after his international days are behind him.
Now focusing on the shorter formats of the game having retired from Test cricket last year, India’s ODI and T20 skipper will be hot property if he decides to end his stellar international career in order to focus on playing in domestic leagues.
The 34-year-old has been a real success in the IPL, captaining Chennai Super Kings to two titles and proving himself to be one of the best all-round Twenty20 players in the game.
The battle for Dhoni
But despite interest from across the world, Dhoni has instead focused on playing for India in recent years, even continuing to play one-day cricket for his country when he could have easily walked away and taken the money elsewhere.
While Australia’s BBL has played host to some of international cricket’s most iconic names, with Jacques Kallis, Kumar Sangakkara and Kevin Pietersen all featuring this year, India has remained the only major cricketing nation to have so far refused to allow any of its players compete in the tournament.
Priced at 3/1 at the time of writing with 32Red Australia to win this year’s World Twenty20 tournament, it may be that India relaxes its approach to overseas leagues next season.
As well as establishing himself as one of the modern game’s best wicket-keeper batsmen in Test cricket, Dhoni has always been one of the best one day players in the world.
His aggressive batting aside, the 34-year-old’s quick decision making under pressure has made him crucial to India’s success in the shorter formats of the game. In terms of T20 internationals, Dhoni has scored 874 runs in 52 appearances at an average of 33, maintaining his impressive figures across the different versions of the game.
The calendar year of 2015 wasn’t the Indian captain’s most successful season in the IPL, averaging just over 30 after hitting just one 50 in 17 appearances, but that won’t put off BBL teams from doing everything they could to sign him if he did become available.
Big Bash’s growth in popularity
It’s going to become increasingly hard for the Indian cricketing authorities to continue ignoring Australia’s Twenty20 Big Bash League.
While it might still be some way away from the IPL at this stage, the growing crowds and world-class players on display show that this tournament is becoming one of T20 cricket’s most exciting leagues.
Over 80,000 fans packed the Melbourne Cricket Ground to watch the Renegades take on the Stars, with another 42,000 attending the game between the Thunder and the Sixers in Sydney, in a tournament still very open with bookmakers such as 32Red and Betway.
With Test cricket suffering from a drop in attendances over the traditionally busy Christmas period, there’s no hiding the fact the BBL is becoming big business Down Under.
And it’s not just in attendances where T20 is beating the five-day game, with West Indies stars Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Darren Sammy all opting to play in the competition rather than represent their country in the Test game.
While the reasons for that might lay deeper than just financial, attracting international players shows that the IPL could have some genuine competition over the next few years.
Test Cricket’s problems
On a world stage, the Big Bash League has started to really make its mark, with the growing attendance figures resulting in the tournament breaking into the top-10 list for the world’s most attended sporting leagues, joining the likes of the NFL, English Premier League and the IPL.
Showing no signs of slowing down, this definitely isn’t a passing fad despite some criticism from more traditional sections of the media. The question is now whether the popularity of the T20 game can be used to revive the fortunes of the Test game?
For the time being, however, Australian cricket fans will be excited to see just where the Big Bash League can go, while players such as Dhoni will continue to look at the atmosphere, quality of cricket and money all on offer in the competition and wonder why they aren’t involved.
And if India continue to keep their current players away, it certainly won’t stop stars from other country’s joining the party.
