India tour to Zimbabwe in doubt

Zimbabwe cricket officials say they will meet with their Indian counterparts at the ICC's annual conference this week in Barbados in an attempt to save next month's limited-overs series.

India could pull out of the tour because of the role of broadcaster Ten Sports, which holds the television rights for Zimbabwe's home series.

Ten Sports is part of Indian conglomerate Essel Group, the company planning to set up a Twenty20 league to rival the BCCI’s hugely successful Indian Premier League.

The rival competition is the brainchild of billionaire media mogul Subhash Chandra, who owns Essel Group, which was behind the now-defunct Indian Cricket League (ICL).

International reports in recent months suggest Chandra is also trying to set up a breakaway world governing body for the sport outside the jurisdiction of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Zimbabwe Cricket chairman Wilson Manase says there are "issues" that need to be resolved and India's trip could be postponed to next year.

India was meant to play three one-day internationals and two Twenty20 games in Zimbabwe from July 10, a significant money-spinner for the struggling Zimbabwe board.

Ten Sports also has broadcast agreements with Sri Lanka, South Africa, Pakistan and the West Indies. India is scheduled to tour Sri Lanka after their series in Zimbabwe, and that tour must now also be in doubt, as is the mooted revival of the India-Pakistan rivalry for later in 2015.

Yesterday, Australia opener David Warner said he couldn’t rule out accepting a possible offer from a rebel league such as that proposed by the Essel Group, though Cricket Australia Chairman Wally Edwards last month said the deals being talked about – approximately $50m for 10 years – were comparable with what the country’s top players were presently earning.

"I don't like pointing things at people, but take for instance the NRL or NFL or NBA," he told Sky Sports Radio on Monday. "If someone puts out a couple of extra thousand dollars in the pay well those people nine times out of 10 they do take that.

"It's about being honest. You can't rule it out.

"You can't say no, because at the end of the day we're all there, we love playing the sport we do but we also love getting paid for what we do.

"So if I say ‘No, I wouldn't take it’, then all of a sudden I do, it looks stupid on your part.

"So I'm just about being honest and saying it's not out of the question.

"I would certainly have a think about it."

India last visited Zimbabwe in August 2013, sweeping a five-match ODI series in which Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli both posted hundreds and Amit Mishra took 18 wickets.

The sides met in the recent World Cup in Auckland, and despite 138 from retired batsman Brendan Taylor and a run chase that stumbled to 4-92, the two-time world champions got home with six wickets in hand.