IPL excursions owning teams in other leagues is also not a new phenomenon, with owners of the Knight Riders, Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals having teams in the Caribbean Premier League.
Knight Riders own Trinidad and Tobago Knight Riders, Punjab Kings own Saint Lucia Kings and Rajasthan Royals own Barbados Royals in the CPL.
However, the case of SA20 and ILT20 is different and significant.
For several years, the ICC has scheduled almost no international matches between the top international cricket teams between late March and early June. ‘Coincidentally’, this gap in international cricket coincides with the IPL window.
Last year, the ICC announced the Future Touring Program (FTP) for 2023-27, where it conveniently kept the period largely free of any major international matches, making the “IPL window” in the international cricket calendar only official.
