Indian cricket tour yields $ 14.5 million

Sri Lanka cricketers celebrate their T20I series win over India

• SLC thanks Indian Government and BCCI for undertaking the tour during pandemic

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

India’s recent cricket tour of Sri Lanka has resulted in a $ 14.5 million revenue to Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), SLC Secretary Mohan de Silva said.

“According to the FTP (Future Tours Program) the tour was only for 3 ODIs, but our President Shammi Silva managed to persuade the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) to give us an additional 3 T20Is which resulted in the enhancement of the commercial value. It was made possible because of the relationship we have cultivated with the Indian Cricket Board. We got $ 14.5 million from broadcasting and other rights like ground, etc.,” de Silva told the Daily FT.

SLC Secretary Mohan de Silva

“The fact that the BCCI and the Indian Government gave the blessings for their team to come to Sri Lanka during the pandemic times and meet their commitments was also due to the cordial relationships we have with the BCCI,” de Silva further emphasised.

The six-match white-ball series was played behind closed doors with no spectators allowed to attend the matches due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

De Silva said that SLC was also grateful to the Minister of Sports and the Government of Sri Lanka for allowing them to continue with the tour with the proper health guidelines. 

“Without their encouragement we would not have been able to go ahead with this tour which resulted in a lucrative commercial value and revenue coming into Sri Lanka.”

When one of the Indian players was tested positive for COVID-19, there were some doubts cast about the tour continuing. At that point of time, India had completed the three-match ODI series and one of the three T20Is.

“Even the Indian High Commissioner was concerned and the BCCI. In this context, I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude on behalf of SLC to the management of the Indian team, Rahul Dravid and the others, and the BCCI who monitored the situation. They wanted certain guidance given by us and the assurances, which we did by moving the patient to another hotel and so on, and we continued with the tour,” said de Silva.

From the players’ point of view, de Silva said that the tour had been of immense benefit.

“It has helped the players a lot. It has uplifted the morale of the cricketers. The T20I series win against India really bolstered the confidence of the players and we also had a lot of positives. We’ve seen emerging players coming and playing leading roles under a new captain, you could see their body language and self-confidence improving. These are good signs for the upcoming T20 World Cup,” said de Silva.

Sri Lanka has to qualify to get into the Super 12s of the T20 World Cup that will be played in the UAE and Oman in October.

Speaking further, de Silva said that even during the ongoing pandemic times, SLC had done extremely well to obtain sponsorships from local commercial partners.

“The interim committee was in office when the budgets were prepared and they had envisaged a severe deficit, but we were able to reduce that drastically and also contribute more to the stakeholders. There was an anticipated loss during the last year up to 31 December 2020, but we managed to reduce that deficit to a great extent by way of prudent management and by sourcing a lot of sponsorship agreements with local commercial partners,” said de Silva.

“Getting sponsorships during this period is no joke. I think we are one of the few Cricket Boards that didn’t impose any pay cuts or reduce staff during the height of the pandemic on players and administration,” he said.

Cricket Boards of England, Australia and New Zealand underwent redundancies and pay cuts during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

De Silva said that he did not foresee any issues with regards to the SLC Invitational tournament and the South African tour taking place as scheduled, despite the current health situation in the country.

“We are continuing with the same principles with the teams going into a bio-bubble and following strict protocols laid down by the Health Ministry for the South African tour, and as for the Invitational T20 tournament, the four participating teams have already taken their positions in the respective hotels in Kandy and they are undergoing training under the bio-bubble,” said de Silva.

The SLC Invitation T20 tournament, which is a forerunner to the South African tour and the T20 World Cup, will take place at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium from today till 24 August. South Africa are due to make a tour of Sri Lanka from 2-14 September and play a series of three ODIs and three T20Is.