Former Test captain Anil Kumble has expressed apprehension over the Karnataka State Cricket Association's (KSCA) move to start a Karnataka Premier League (KPL) with the private franchise ownership of eight teams, saying it is "not a positive or healthy development".
Kumble warned that the tournament, "in its current form, would allow a backdoor entry into the KSCA for people not passionate about cricket". The inaugural KPL, modelled along the lines of the IPL, is proposed to be played between September 12 and 27 in Bangalore. The league is in the process of inviting bids for the ownership of the eight zonal teams that will take part.
Among the 40-plus entities that are making bids for teams are real estate firms, actors, politicians, and a former underworld don, though corporate powerhouses, including information technology companies, have not shown much interest.
"What is the KPL about? What is the point of the whole exercise?" Kumble asked, saying the KSCA should have organised the KPL by itself, without private team franchises, because the prices were moderate. "The KSCA could organise the KPL with BCCI annual grants," he said.
The KSCA president Srikantadatta Wodeyar and the secretary Brijesh Patel have pitched the KPL as a platform for district-level cricketers to reach the next level.
