Former Australia legend Adam Gilchrist has dropped his controversial opinion on the inclusion of foreign investors in Australian cricket club Big Bash League. The legend believes this will in no way enhance its status or inspire fans to follow it.

The Big Bash League is one of the oldest cricket leagues in the world and despite its world-class status, the league is restricted to mostly Australian cricketers. In order to attract more attention from the world, Cricket Australia decided to bring in global investors.

One of the core ideas behind this is that investors can attract the attention of bigger players, providing ample funding, as is the case with the SA20 and ILT20, which now have bigger names due to the funding factor, leaving aside the IPL, which is the most commercially profitable league in the world.

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Cricket Australia is putting BBL privatization on track

The idea of ​​privatizing a cricket league is not a first for any board, as the ECB took the top-100 team completely private. A number of Indian and American investors have bought stakes in participating teams, which will become a privately owned league from the upcoming season with the European Central Bank as the governing body. Cricket Australia hopes to play a similar role.

The rebuild also marks a major shift in the BBL’s window, which would avoid potential conflicts with several other competitions, cricket leagues and international matches. Additionally, Cricket Australia has kept its plans on track in the belief that the wealth gained from the sale of the shares can be saved to support the league’s long-term financial stability.

Adam Gilchrist slams CA’s BBL private ownership prospects

While many cricketers, whether former like Shane Watson or current ones like Usman Khawaja, support the idea of ​​privatization, many Australian greats think it doesn’t matter, such as Adam Gilchrist.

Australian wicket-keeper batsman Adam Gilchrist, one of Australia’s greatest cricketing minds, believes that an infusion of foreign money alone will not improve the standard of the league.

“I just don’t know … whether putting Indian money or UAE money into the game quite possibly would raise the level of the game and create the passion among fans to follow the game,” Adam Gilchrist said of the prospect of private ownership of the BBL.

Do you agree with Adam Gilchrist’s thoughts on the possibility of private ownership of BBL? 🤔#cricket pic.twitter.com/OxdwDfmW7P

— SEN Cricket (@SEN_Cricket) February 28, 2026

CA stops too many Indian teams in BBL

Among them, Cricket Australia has proposed a core idea of ​​selling no more than three teams to Indian owners because they also hope to get the attention of American brands as well as United Arab Emirates brands. In recent years, it has been common for Indian brands to invest heavily in foreign leagues such as Hundred, SA20, MLC and ILT20.

Also, another concern is whether the Indian owners will actually allow their teams to pick players from rival Pakistan. This concern has recently erupted in the upcoming season of the Hundred. However, CA expects India’s investment to push the BCCI to consider letting their players play in the BBL, but this seems unlikely to happen.

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