Delhi: As per the window fixed by the Indian Cricket Board for the state T20 leagues, as soon as the IPL ended, the process of playing these T20 leagues started rapidly. Even playing multiple leagues simultaneously. Well, the empire of these state T20 leagues is neither as big as the IPL nor is there such a big money game in them, but the current situation is that these state T20 leagues have become the first round for the talent scouts of IPL franchises to identify new talent and call them for IPL trials.

That is why many such players played during IPL who had not yet shined properly in domestic cricket tournaments. The journey from these state T20 leagues directly to IPL is becoming the new ‘short cut’ to shine in cricket. It has become necessary for young cricketers to shine in these state T20 leagues.

When the state T20 league gets such importance the money will come automatically. It was not so long ago that there was no broadcaster available for the matches of the State T20 League.

Today these state T20 leagues are becoming business opportunities themselves, attracting broadcasters, sponsors and IPL scouts. Their growing influence is not only promoting local talent but also presenting cricket as a new option for every youth. T20 Mumbai League, Uttar Pradesh T20 League, Madhya Pradesh League and the newly started Jharkhand T20 League are becoming more famous in this regard. They started out as a way to identify local talent and give them opportunities to grow, but now they are businesses themselves.

The franchisees of these state T20 leagues are also now entering into contracts with local sponsors and doing media partnerships.

The newly started Jharkhand State Cricket Association won from the first day. From the very beginning, it entered into a three-year digital broadcast partnership contract with JioStar for its T20 league. Its biggest advantage is that the matches of this league will be streamed across the country. Players like Ishan Kishan, Robin Minz, Anukul Roy and Virat Singh will play in this league. For a state association, securing a national streaming platform from the first season of the league was unthinkable a few years ago. Now such leagues are giving big broadcasters an opportunity to show live cricket in the absence of big tournaments.

T20 Mumbai League is one of the most influential state leagues. This league of Mumbai Cricket Association has become a showcase for the talent pool of Mumbai and even well-known international and IPL players are playing in it. Stars like Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer and Shivam Dubey also played in the last tournament.

Uttar Pradesh T20 League has been very successful in bringing out new talent. This league provided IPL contracts to many players coming from the domestic ecosystem of Uttar Pradesh.

These state leagues are working to connect age-group cricket and IPL. A good season in these leagues can significantly change the market value of any player ahead of the IPL auction. Scouts now have access to more match footage, more performance data and more opportunities to assess the performance of talent in franchise cricket before investing. This situation is beneficial for both the franchise and the players. This reduces the scouting risk for IPL teams. For young cricketers, the path to professional cricket becomes clearer.

Punjab Kings batsman Priyansh Arya, who shone in the IPL this year, is one of those players who played in the first season of Delhi Premier League. Last year, when Priyansh scored a brilliant 100 against five-time champion Chennai Super Kings, he was asked whether it is difficult to play in Delhi Premier League or IPL, Priyansh Arya’s answer was Delhi Premier League. Such responses prove that the identity of these leagues is getting stronger and players are not taking playing in them as a joke.

When the first Tamil Nadu Premier League was played in 2016, no one had any idea that this league would become a means of progress for the players who could not win Ranji and other trophies for years. In the early years of that league, movie stars were the brand ambassadors, and corporates lined up to get their branding on the team uniforms.