Could KKR take the IPL to the United States? – Stumped podcast, BBC World Service

0:09 Hello, I'm Alison Mitchell and welcome to Stumped.

0:12 With me is Jim Maxwell from the ABC in Sydney.

0:14 And Charu Sharma is with us in Bangalore for Akashvani.

0:18 Now, construction has begun on the Olympic Cricket stadium for LA 2028,

0:22 with hopes it could even host IPL teams in the future.

0:26 Now, the stadium in the southern Californian city of Pomona

0:29 will become the home of Kolkata Knight Riders' U.S.

0:32 franchise, Los Angeles Knight Riders,

0:34 and it will host Major League Cricket matches as early as this July.

0:38 The BBC's Tim Abraham has been speaking to KKR's chief executive Venky Mysore.

0:43 After much scrutiny on the pitches during the T20 World

0:46 Cup that was held in New York two years ago,

0:49 Mysore is confident that the playing surfaces will meet elite standards.

0:54 For us, this is a venue that is going to be a very long-term type of thing.

0:59 I mean, because of the kind of investment that goes into it,

1:03 it has to be long-term in nature.

1:05 And so we made a decision from the get-go that we will put a proper square,

1:11 which will have eight pitches in it, which is what the ICC recommended to us.

1:17 And I'm happy to report, I saw it firsthand yesterday,

1:21 and the square has been laid and the grass is growing.

1:24 And so we have a we have a permanent square there which will have eight pitches.

1:29 And we also will have a practice facility which will have eight pitches,

1:34 literally adjacent to the to the main ground that is being put in place.

1:38 So, essentially, there are, you know,

1:45 the construction company who is working for us as well

1:47 as we have curators from Australia who have come down as consultants.

1:52 So they've watched every step of the way.

1:54 And I've learned more about the square

1:57 and the soil and the sod and everything else,

2:00 much more than I ever thought I would get into, but it's quite exciting.

2:05 And, it has already taken shape to a point where this square

2:10 will be ready for hosting MLC games in the first week of July.

2:15 And the outfield is getting ready and the lights will be up.

2:20 And so we'll have a field of play that will be world-class.

2:23 And that was always our goal.

2:25 So we have not spared any expense in making sure

2:29 that the field of play is going to be absolutely world-class.

2:32 It will compare with any other top-notch, cricket facility around the world.

2:39 Well, Tim also asked Venky Mysore if it's possible that Kolkata Knight

2:43 Riders could play a game at the stadium in California in the future.

2:47 Wouldn't that be wonderful?

2:48 You know, I mean, I think the challenge with that, frankly,

2:52 is always the player availability.

2:54 You know, once the IPL season is over,

2:56 everyone's got their calendars and they're all running in different directions.

3:00 But, the BCCI, in the past, has talked about, you know,

3:04 a couple of teams going out and playing exhibition

3:07 games to sort of grow cricket in that region, plus also help, in turn, the IPL,

3:13 in terms of fans from around other parts of the world.

3:16 So that's always on the agenda.

3:18 We have been trying you know,

3:20 this is my 16th season with the IPL and we've tried every year,

3:25 but somehow it's not happened,

3:27 mainly because of player availability, more than anything else.

3:29 I think there's been a lot of interest to stage it,

3:32 and we have had concrete proposals from particularly

3:35 the US and Canada and stuff like that.

3:38 But, one day, if it becomes reality

3:41 and hopefully this will be an added incentive.

3:44 Well, that's the BBC's Tim Abraham speaking to Venky Mysore,

3:48 KKR's chief executive.

3:49 Some interesting stuff in there.

3:50 Charu, let me come to you first.

3:52 If we go back to the World Cup in New York,

3:55 and India was one of the teams that were reportedly unhappy with the pitch,

3:58 what type of surface do you think KKR would be looking to curate in California?

4:04 Well, they personally as a team have a reasonably good bowling attack.

4:07 But let's face it, what do fans love?

4:10 What's closest to them?

4:11 The boundary.

4:12 So they like the fours and sixes.

4:14 And you know, if there are wickets- three or four in the middle

4:17 of the pitch- it's too far away for a fan to really exult and enjoy.

4:20 So I suspect they'll have to be out and out

4:23 batting pitches if they can actually make that happen,

4:25 because pitch-making and the whole square is really a very complicated process.

4:29 If you don't get it right the first time,

4:31 they can keep digging it up and trying it again and again.

4:33 I wonder which soil they're using?

4:35 Plenty of questions, but without doubt, batting pitches,

4:37 because the fans would like to see the ball

4:41 flying into their area more often than wickets falling.

4:44 I mean, that's a given.

4:46 Well, the stadium and the pitches in particular, should, Jim,

4:48 have a bit more time to bed in in a way

4:51 that they didn't for the T20 World Cup in New York?

4:55 Does that encourage you that the surfaces, you know,

4:58 should be up to scratch for the Olympics?

5:00 I'm not sure what we're going to get.

5:02 Hopefully, the future of T20 is not all about fours and sixes,

5:07 which worries me at the moment.

5:09 It's become such a batsman's game that the bowlers,

5:12 they really shouldn't be paid as much

5:15 as the batsmen because the batsmen are the stars.

5:17 Bowlers are like waiters coming out with champagne

5:21 glasses for the batsmen to swill down.

5:24 Poor bowlers.

5:25 Yeah, the game is just, it's like golf.

5:29 You know, the big hitters are winning the argument.

5:32 You've got fast outfields, small grounds, trampoline style-bats.

5:37 Who wants to bowl, for goodness' sake, in these games?

5:40 Well, someone wants to bowl because they get paid

5:41 a lot of money for turning up and bowling four overs.

5:44 It's very nice.

5:45 Thank you.

5:45 So I just hope it's a contest, that's all.

5:48 I'm sick of watching slog-athons and basically that's what most of the IPL is.

5:53 Well, a lot of the most interesting games

5:55 are the ones where the bowlers come into it.

5:56 At whatever level of the game,

5:57 You want to have that contest between bat and ball.

6:00 Charu, going back to Major League Cricket,

6:02 it does seem like quite a statement for the future

6:05 of MLC that KKR are understood to have taken

6:08 a long-term lease on a stadium that will eventually

6:12 have capacity for 15,000 by the time it's fully developed.

6:15 Well, I'm glad that the IPL has given rise to this kind of commercial success,

6:19 which is what has allowed the KKR franchise

6:21 with their LA franchise to actually take that long-term lease,

6:24 which is wonderful for the game in LA or that part of the country.

6:29 Remember, of course, you know, geographically they seem to enjoy reasonably good

6:33 weather through the year because I do wonder: it's great for the diaspora,

6:37 the Asian diaspora, they'd love to be able to watch matches there

6:40 but how many of the seriously top level matches can be held there?

6:44 Maybe a little through the MLC.

6:46 But you've got 365 days in a year,

6:48 and if it's not used for big-time cricket for 355,

6:53 then you know, there's something to be said about white elephants as well.

6:56 Maybe it'll be a big training venue for local teams.

6:59 The biggest question in my mind, Alison, always remains,

7:03 what of, if there is something like an average American?

7:06 When are they going to take to the game?

7:09 Because there's a big limit on the diaspora numbers.

7:11 And by the way, they're set to reduce a bit considering what's going on.

7:15 But the locals, the average American, has to take to the game.

7:19 And yes, having a permanent stadium with a reasonably good pitch,

7:23 and maybe a smattering of matches:

7:25 five or seven during the year will create a little bit of noise.

7:28 But is that enough?

7:29 Not yet.

7:30 Not likely.

7:30 But let me not sound cynical.

7:32 I noticed in that chat Tim Abraham had there

7:35 that Venky Mysore talked about the possibility of some exhibition matches.

7:40 It's an interesting aspect of the development of the game potentially in the US,

7:45 Charu- surely if the game is going to develop and grab an audience,

7:52 it needs the best players on show.

7:55 So what's the chance of the best of the IPL turning up,

8:00 including the 15 year old who is wowing us all with his extraordinary hitting?

8:04 That's got to happen, hasn't it?

8:06 Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.

8:07 Unfortunately not playing for KKR.

8:10 Maybe they've got an eye out for him.

8:11 He's going to be an RR for a very long time.

8:13 But you know Jim, once again I'm back to the average American

8:17 argument because that's what's required for a sport to grow in any country.

8:22 And all I can say is that it's important to keep chipping away.

8:25 Soccer has been chipping away for so many years in the US.

8:28 The one window- Venky Mysore talked

8:30 about the difficulty of getting players together,

8:33 and that's a big problem for all IPL teams, barring the IPL window.

8:37 But like a lot of other sports- and there

8:40 was mention of NFL- before the season starts in India,

8:43 all the teams do get together.

8:45 You know, if you have preseason games, that's a wonderful time for any team.

8:49 Certainly the KKR team also, to be in the US,

8:51 play two or three matches amongst themselves or with other locals and, you know,

8:55 mix it all up and get a really big-time team

8:59 playing in the US and attracting that kind of attention.

9:01 So I do think it's not that difficult,

9:03 provided they use the two or three weeks before the season

9:07 before the first match to actually play in the US.

9:10 And I have to once again add that commercially,

9:13 the way IPL teams are going, I don't think that's going to be a barrier.

9:17 So let's not hear the fact that we don't have

9:18 a sponsor in the US and so on and so forth.

9:20 The team can just go in there,

9:21 fly there in a jet and fly back after playing three or four local matches.

9:26 So I don't think that's going to be a problem.

9:28 And it's a good way to start.

9:29 Well, it's going to be exciting to see just how

9:31 the stadium goes and indeed where cricket goes in the States,

9:33 with MLC in particular feeling like it's very much on the up.

9:37 Now, next on Stumped,

9:38 the hype around the Women's T20 World Cup has gone up a notch,

9:42 with England, the home nation, announcing its squad in a rather unique way.

9:47 A video was released by the ECB, with well-known presenters and stars from all

9:51 different sports revealing the 15 players.

9:54 The tournament's just over a month away,

9:56 Nat Sciver-Brunt will captain the England side and the squad includes

9:59 the eye-catching call up of uncapped left arm spinner Tilly Courteen-Coleman,

10:03 who is just 18 years of age.

10:05 First thing, Jim, that announcement was pretty cool.

10:08 You had sporting stars like Lando Norris, F1 champion, Justin Rose,

10:11 former major winner in golf and darts champion Luke Littler,

10:15 all getting involved.

10:16 Have you seen anything quite like that?

10:17 No.

10:18 That's unique and it's full of imagination and creativity.

10:22 So well done for putting the message out there like that.

10:25 I don't think anything like that has occurred

10:28 with the men's or the women's game here.

10:30 Maybe it's because there's so much competition to get

10:33 the news and air space to put your announcement out there.

10:36 But I saw the video clip and it was very clever indeed.

10:41 So I hope that they get the profile and and recognition

10:45 from here on leading into the World Cup that they deserve.

10:49 And I hope that it puts them up there on the front page to play in the final.

10:53 Yeah.

10:53 I mean, I remember the New Zealand squad,

10:56 the men's squad for the 2023 World Cup being announced by their family members,

11:00 which was really, really cute.

11:02 You had the kids maybe with their mum saying "Number 23,

11:06 my dad, Kane Williamson", you know, whatever it may be.

11:08 It was very, very sweet.

11:10 And that went quite viral and again, 2024,

11:12 the next year for the Women's T20 World Cup,

11:14 New Zealand had two little kids sitting as if

11:17 in a mock press conference announcing the squad.

11:19 So they've done some pretty creative things as well.

11:22 But you know, Jim, it is important, isn't it?

11:23 This sort of thing helps to get cricket.

11:25 It aligns it with the mainstream, which is important?

11:28 Very important, particularly with the women's game,

11:32 which, certainly in this country,

11:35 if not in other places, has become very significant.

11:38 And as I've said a few times,

11:40 arguably Australia's best team in any sport is the women's cricket team.

11:44 I think they've gone past the men now.

11:47 So yes, important to keep the profile up there.

11:50 And that's a great way for England to do it

11:53 because they do need to jump back under the spotlight.

11:56 They've been a bit backstage lately haven't they?

11:59 Yeah.

12:00 And the T20 World Cup will be played out

12:02 against the background of the football World Cup as well.

12:05 And Wimbledon will be happening when the semi-finals get going.

12:07 Charu, I mean, in India I suppose you don't need any help to get cricket

12:11 into the mainstream like that, and you get

12:13 celebs aligned with cricket all the time, don't you?

12:15 Yeah.

12:15 The two events you mentioned,

12:16 that's a bit of a dampener in terms of viewership, but yeah,

12:19 back in India, Alison, You know,

12:21 cricket's obviously been in the forefront for many decades now.

12:24 Not so women's cricket.

12:26 And I think it was the WPL.

12:28 And I can credit the WPL for ensuring

12:30 that a lot more attention was heaped on women's cricket.

12:33 Now, when it comes to endorsement,

12:34 you mention some big names of sport in the UK.

12:37 What could be bigger than the male

12:39 cricketers in India talking about women's cricket?

12:41 So that's been happening for quite a while now.

12:43 But you know, just the multi-sport in me or multi-sport person in me wishes

12:47 that other sports persons also get aligned

12:51 with cricket and are used to promote cricket now.

12:53 Nothing quite so exceptional in India in terms of announcing the team so far.

12:57 I think the board almost always takes that privilege of announcing the teams.

13:01 But how fabulous to think of something more creative to announce a cricket team,

13:07 even if it's the women's, certainly not the men's,

13:10 and have sportspersons or other persons of eminence announcing the teams.

13:15 That would be just fantastic to give them also,

13:17 especially other sports persons, a little ray of sunshine.

13:21 I think it's a wonderful idea.

13:22 Yep.

13:23 And talking about eye-catching moments, the part of the announcement that was

13:28 most eye-catching is the inclusion of Tilly Courteen-Coleman,

13:30 just 18 years of age.

13:33 No Tammy Beaumont, by the way.

13:34 She actually captained England the last time she

13:36 played a T20 back in July of last year,

13:38 but hasn't featured in the last couple of World Cup squads in that format.

13:42 Leg spinner Sarah Glenn is injured.

13:44 But yes, Courteen-Coleman,

13:45 she's been performing well in recent months domestically and intrasquad

13:48 matches on the South Africa tour they went on.

13:51 Is there is there an element of gamble

13:53 in picking an uncapped 18-year-old for a World Cup?

13:56 Well, I don't think so.

13:57 I think it's a very exciting thing for her, without doubt.

14:00 I wonder if she's going to get a game though.

14:02 But even just sitting around the dressing room

14:04 along with the rest of the big stars, it's a fabulous move.

14:07 And obviously she's ready in many ways.

14:09 Certainly in terms of talent,

14:11 one just hopes that she has a nice steady head on her shoulders

14:15 through the World Cup and then gains from it as she goes along.

14:19 But I also wonder, with so many lefty spinners in the team,

14:22 whether she's going to get a game.

14:24 But still, great news and always nice to see the birth of young,

14:29 raw, fabulous talent.

14:30 She's a really smart cricketer.

14:32 She's been around the game for a long time, certainly.

14:34 Got her first cap at under-11s with Kent,

14:37 and who gave it to her, but Charlotte Edwards

14:40 who is Kent Legend herself and now of course,

14:43 the England coach who's also coached her at Southern Brave,

14:46 which she joined when she was just 16.

14:48 And if you think, you know, Alice Capsey made her, you know,

14:51 burst onto the scene at the age of 16,

14:53 then went on to make an England debut in that sense.

14:55 Yeah, 18, she's actually had a good couple of years and featuring

14:58 in that greater pressure cooker of the Hundred to develop and and become,

15:03 you know, this more rounded individual and cricketer.

15:05 So I'd say she's been on the watch list for a while.

15:08 And Charu, well you mentioned whether she'll get a game- yes,

15:10 she is one of three left arm spinners in the squad along with Sophie Ecclestone,

15:15 who, you know, I think is nailed on to be starting,

15:18 so kind of battling with Linsey Smith for a place.

15:21 And they bowl with similar pace,

15:22 but I think Courteen-Coleman actually gets more turns.

15:25 There's certainly going to be lots of options for for Sciver-Brunt.

15:28 And they've got Charlie Dean there as well as an off spinner.

15:30 Alison, I must also ask you, what do you think the selectors saw in her?

15:34 And if you've seen her performances as well,

15:36 to to fast track her to the England team,

15:39 because there must be something extraordinary?

15:40 I think it is that ability that she's got,

15:43 the maturity, the ability to really turn the ball.

15:45 She just seems as if she's been on the radar, as I said, for such a long time.

15:50 Charlotte Edwards knows her game really inside out,

15:52 so she's certainly impressed when she's been

15:55 playing in these intrasquad games and domestically.

15:58 And she's a talent.

15:59 So yeah, at 18 years of age, get her in there.

16:01 And you said an exciting pick.

16:03 You mentioned Charlotte Edwards and I just thought I'd quote

16:06 her once again because she has also mentioned two key words.

16:09 She said that Tilly is ready and mature now.

16:15 How mature can somebody be at 18?

16:17 Obviously she is well beyond her years,

16:19 but I suppose if you're good enough, you're old enough?

16:23 I think so.

16:24 And you know what as well, this year in the Hundred,

16:26 she went for over £100,000, bought by Southern Brave,

16:29 which is a massive leap from the, what,

16:32 twelve grand or so she would have been on last year.

16:34 So, I mean, in a financial sense,

16:35 she has had to grow up and mature very, very quickly.

16:38 I mean, at her age, at 18, I think I was getting £3 an hour

16:41 at my local radio station answering the phone lines,

16:43 you know, wrapping up presents for competition winners.

16:46 She was, what, nine years old when England won the 2017 World Cup.

16:50 So she's grown up, of course, in this era of England having been champions,

16:54 but, you know, haven't won anything since.

16:57 So there's a big, big job ahead of this England squad now.

17:00 Well, the opening game of the World Cup is the 12th of June.

17:02 I'm really excited to be commentating.

17:04 Of course, the BBC will carry commentary of all the matches.

17:07 That is it for Stumped for this week.

17:09 Make sure you like and subscribe to our YouTube

17:11 channel so you never miss an episode.

17:13 I'll say thanks to Charu Sharma and to Jim

17:15 Maxwell and we'll see you all next time.

17:17 Bye for now.