Published: Dec 01, 2022, 07:06 PM (IST)
Edited: Dec 02, 2022, 07:56 AM (IST)
Abu Dhabi: Rajeev Khanna was appointed as the Chief Operation Officer (COO) of the ongoing Abu Dhabi T10 league earlier in the year in September and while he was aware of the challenges that lie ahead, he was pretty clear in his vision – to make the league global in every sense of the term.
While speaking exclusively with CricketCountry, Khanna spoke at length regarding the challenges he faced while trying to ensure the legacy of the league continues, his association with the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) and how his experience of running world class franchise teams and leagues can add value to the league, adding that T10 has huge potential – not just in terms of cricket but from a commercial point of view as well. He also spoke about the format being best suited for the Olympics.
The ongoing Abu Dhabi T10 league saw 1600 international players getting registered for the tournament and Khanna expects it to only get better and bigger.
“It has huge potential. I say potential in many ways. From a cricket point of view, I can say that we had around 1600 international players registered around the world. Out of which we had to select 250 and from a commercial point of view – yes, the corporates are very very keen and interested to know about it. We have some fantastic franchise owners and there is a lot of interest among the huge corporates as well. And we expect many corporates and sporting giants to be a part of this tournament in the near future,’ reckons Khanna.
“My vision is to make it more engaging for the fans. What I currently see is that the product has great potential. How you can cultivate that potential into the people coming out to watch the game, families coming in, women coming in, that is what I want to achieve in the initial few years, plus how we make the league global,”,” he said on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi T10 league played at the Zayed Cricket Stadium.
“That is the whole idea which is how do we engage more crowd in it and make it a great mix of competitive cricket and entertainment and give the crowd an experience of a lifetime. The game has a lot of potential, and we are now focussing on how we can make it global and there is a global expansion plan already in place.
“We are being lucky enough that for the first time a full ICC member nation board – i.e. Sri Lanka cricket board has sanctioned this format and we recently launched the Sri Lanka T10 league. We are planning to do this league in June in Sri Lanka. We are in the final stage of closure with other boards, and you will see various T10 leagues in various countries. We plan to have atleast 5 such leagues across the globe in the next 12 months,” he further added.
There are only five former Indian players currently associated with the league. Harbhajan Singh is a part of the Delhi Bulls squad while Suresh Raina is with Deccan Gladiators in the Abu Dhabi T10 league. Other than these two, Stuart Binny is playing for New York Strikers, Abhimanyu Mithun is associated with Northern Warriors’ side while S Sreesanth was roped in by Bangla Tigers.
Talking about the participation of more Indian players and the format being more suited for the Olympics, Khanna revealed, “Due to BCCI’s contract policy we are left with the players who are retired or recently retired. So we are targeting that kind of players who can come on board. We have got Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, and S Sreesanth and we are targeting many more. The players love this format as it is quick, full of excitement and lot of entertainment. So we expect many more names to be added.”
“I think this product is something which will be more suited for games such as the Olympics. No sport other than golf is more than 90 minutes in the Olympics and golf is a different kind of sport anyway. So this kind of format can be best suited for the Olympics and the reason is that it is quick, you can play 3-4 games in the same stadium in one day. As many countries participate in the Olympics, so definitely scope for T10 in the Olympics,” feels Khanna while talking about seeing cricket as an Olympic sport someday.
Stressing on the challenges he had faced while trying to conduct an event of this magnitude in a matter of two weeks, Khanna said, “What you see on the camera is not just the cricket that you see. There are a lot of things that go behind the scenes. There are so many unsung heroes, the guys who actually help to deliver the product and make it look what it is. So kudos to my team for tirelessly working to give an extremely successful event for the fans.”
Talking about taking up sports management as a career he said, “There is no better career than sports. It teaches you everything. Patience, handling pressure, timelines, team work, leadership… And overall you live your passion. I will encourage people to take this thing professionally as it has a lot of scope in the future over here in UAE, India or anywhere. Sports is growing and there is definitely a shortage of people who manage to meet the demand and supply. We need to cover that. It is challenging but when you see the final product, it is very satisfying.”
Speaking on his association with the IPL, the former manager of Rajasthan Royals gave the bulk of the credit to IPL for shaping his sports management career.
“Whatever I am today is because of IPL. The challenges and the experience that we get in IPL are unique. All the other leagues which are coming up right now look for IPL as a fundamental base. So there is no comparison of IPL with any other league. It has been a fantastic journey of 14 years with the IPL,” he concluded.
