Former India cricket cricketer and head coach Ravi Shastri has defended the International Cricket Council’s decision to allocate 38.5 percent of its total revenue to India for the 2024-27 cycle, stating it is fair given India’s contribution to cricket’s global revenues. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will receive approximately Rs. 1,968 crore annually, which is six times more than England and Wales Cricket Board’s 6.89 percent and Cricket Australia’s 6.25 percent share.The revenue distribution model, announced in 2023, has sparked discussions in the cricket world, with some boards expressing concerns about the disproportionate allocation. The remaining 12 percent of the revenue is distributed among nine other cricket-playing nations.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Shastri has emphasised that the revenue share should be proportional to the income generated, pointing out that India contributes significantly to cricket’s global earnings through television rights and series revenues.“I would want more for India because most of the money that’s generated comes from India. So it’s only fair that they get their share of pound of flesh. It’s relative, it’s economies, if tomorrow there might be another economy that’s stronger. Money might come from there like it did in the 70s, 80s and the chunk of the money went to, went somewhere else. So I think it’s only fair and, it just shows in the revenues when India travel, look at the television rights, look at the television income that comes for an India series. So it’s only fair that they get. Whatever they’re getting now, if not more,” Shastri stated in an interview with Wisden.The distribution model has faced criticism from other cricket boards, particularly those outside the Big Three – India, England, and Australia. These boards argue that the current model could impede cricket’s growth in other nations.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has been notably vocal in its opposition to the revenue distribution model. They have demanded more transparency in how the allocation figures were determined.“We are insisting that the ICC should tell us how these figures were arrived at. We are not happy with the situation as it stands. Come June, when the board is expected to approve the financial model, unless these details are provided to us, we are not going to approve it,” former PCB chairman Najam Sethi had told Reuters.
