The Ashes competition is as alive as ever. But when it comes to the finances of cricket, India is in a box

The first Test of the 2023 Ashes is well under way at Edgbaston in Birmingham, featuring England’s aggressive style of Bazball (named after New Zealand-born coach Brendan Baz McCullum) and a surprise early announcement from the hosts at the end of the first day. This invited an Australian fightback, inspired by Usman Khawaja who created 141 runs before being bowled by pacer Ollie Robinson (who violent broadcast makes headlines).

England currently lead by 35 runs at the end of the third day and it all sets the stage for a thrilling series.

It comes just a week after Australia won the World Cup, comprehensively defeating India at The Oval in South London.

The Ashes always excite traditionalists as the rivalry between Australia and England is cricket’s oldest.

But while playing an old enemy in the Ashes is for many the pinnacle of Australian cricket, Australia-India is shaping up to be a modern rivalry.

This is significant because in terms of cricket’s finances, its India in the box, not England.

India is the new powerhouse of cricket

Indian Premier League Season 2023 attracted more than 500 million viewers32 percent increase in TV ratings from last season.

The first IPL game of the 2023 season actually drew more viewers than the Super Bowl, the pinnacle of the NFL’s American football season and one of the biggest dates in the world’s sporting calendar.

The first IPL match was tempting 130 million viewerscompared to the record 115.1 million to the 2023 Super Bowl.

2023 IPL champions in Chennai Super Kings are valued about $1.15 billion (A$1.67 billion), according to Forbes, in 2022. They have been advertised Manchester United in the IPL and may one day become one of them the most popular global sports series such as the Dallas Cowboys (A$11.7 billion) and Real Madrid (A$7.4 billion).

So how did India do it?

When T20 took off in England and spread across cricketing nations, everyone thought Test cricket was dying. But it didn’t. In fact, it’s stronger than ever.

If anything, the game between T20 and Test cricket, the 50-over game, is likely to become obsolete, and the World Cup, played only every four years, will attract significant attention (although now the T20 World Cup also overshadows that).

India acted quickly to surf the T20 wave. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) established the IPL following India’s victory in the 2007 World Cup after BCCI’s grip on the game was severed from the breakaway league.

by To BCCI Vice President Lalit Modi at the time of IPL

designed to attract a whole new generation of sports fans to courts across the country. The dynamic Twenty20 format is designed to attract a young fan base that includes women and children

Part of India’s success is its size, which overtook China this year the largest population of any country With 1.4 billion people and its economic success in recent decades with a growing middle class. By 2025, India’s middle class will grow 583 millioni.e. 41% of the country’s projected population.

This has been compounded by the digitization of the Indian economy, with televisions and smartphones giving the average cricket fan access to their favorite teams.

The IPL has attracted top cricketers from around the world, mainly because of it private franchise agreements, many of which are owned by billionaires. This gives the teams deep pockets to buy players from all over the world and the TV rights also add to the IPL coffers.

This is also enhanced women’s cricketincluding their wage package when the Women’s Premier League was launched in India earlier this year.

Cricket Diplomacy

It just goes to show the power of India in world cricket and more generally the power of sport in today’s global economy.

Sports is definitely not small talk anymore, but an integral part of the global economy and geopolitics.

I was in India last month to host the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Cricket, Cooperation and Commonwealth Conference in New Delhi. There was a heated debate about the finances of the IPL and the role of cricket diplomacy in Australia-India relations.

While I was in New Delhi, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Australia addressing packed houses of the Indian diaspora in Sydney. Modi wanted to continue the momentum of the blossoming India-Australia partnership when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited India in March.

Cricket diplomacy was on display then as well, giving rise to the now famous images of Prime Ministers Modi and Albanese in a carriage before the fourth Test in Ahmedabad.

Albanese used the trip to announce a new training contract with India. Almost 50% of Indians are under 25 years oldand only 21% of Indians aged 25-34 they have a tertiary degree, so there are huge opportunities for Australian universities and TAFEs.

Read more: Albania visit hopes to strengthen ties with India amid China’s rise. But the differences remain

Cricket diplomacy has been a key part of the Modi-Albanese partnership, which emphasizes the role of sport in building political and economic relations.

And the rise of IPL has increased India’s power as a superpower in world cricket. Its financial strength has been as important as Team India’s improved on-field performance.

Furthermore, the large turnout at The Oval for the ICC World Cup and now the raucous crowds for the Ashes show that the supposed death of Test cricket has been greatly exaggerated.