Can Saudi Arabia's ambitious 'Grand Slam T20 Circuit' project overcome BCCI's IPL-driven global monopoly?

In March 2025, noted cricket journalist Jarrod Kimber uploaded a video in which he explained about a potential takeover in cricket from Saudi Arabia. The concept came as a bolt out of the blue, given that the country hadn't been popular in cricket yet. However, there was a method to this madness.

The IPL 2025 Mega Auction being held in Saudi's capital of Jeddah was no coincidence, rather it was another step towards initiating discussions with the biggest cricket league in the world. However, IPL's Chairman Arun Dhumal revealed that there were no meetings between Saudi Arabia and the BCCI with respect to the ambitious project named Grand Slam T20 Circuit.

It is the country's most ambitious plan to gain mileage into cricket, courtesy a world-beating T20 league. The fact that Saudi investors have been a regular part of the International Cricket Council (ICC) was a huge plus. Aramco and Public Investment Fund (PIF)/SURJ have been major players, along with Visit Saudi, Neom and Saudi Arabia Cricket Federation.

In recent years, Saudi Arabia has worked significantly towards improving its global image through sports. If golf was the primary step in this direction, football was a gamechanger. Especially once the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo made a record-breaking move to the country's premier league, thereby paving way for more footballers across the world.

The major idea of Grand Slam T20 Circuit is to be best league in the world, which would then guarantee it an exclusive window in the international calendar. That would also mean that a lot of the lesser-valued leagues would have to make way or shut down. The IPL, of course, would still thrive but that is where the problem lies for Saudi's dream.

There is no denying the unprecedented financial reserves of the Saudi kingdom. The richest cricket Board in the world, BCCI, would stand no chance against Saudi if it comes to a financial showdown but there is more to this. In football, there was a big trend when footballers were making freak transfer deals to move to Saudi Arabia from Europe's top-five leagues.

That trend has gone down considerably, although players are still choosing this option when wealth is biggest priority. When it comes to cricketers, those playing international cricket currently are virtually controlled by the Big 3 - BCCI, ECB and CA. England and Australia, however, are more of the silent partners with BCCI calling the shots through the IPL.

Due to the immense success of the IPL, the franchise owners have also expanded their wings into other leagues like SA20 (South Africa), Major League Cricket (USA), Caribbean Premier League (WI) and UAE's own ILT20. Recently, the juggernaut has rolled into England's The Hundred too, with the likes of GMR Group, Sun TV Network and RPSG Group entering the fray.

Indian cricket's IPL-driven monopoly is the biggest threat for Saudi's dream project, designed by Neil Maxwell, best known for being the manager of Australia's Pat Cummins amongst a bunch of others. A former cricketer as well, Maxwell's least known trait is his impeccable business acumen.

The MLC in USA was in Maxwell's plans at least a decade before it become a reality. When it comes to the Grand Slam T20 Circuit, the plan has been around for longer - two decades and counting. As it is the cases with any ambitious project, capital is the biggest requirement and Maxwell struggled to get an investor on board.

This concept of a singular global T20 league with immense monopoly became the 'Grand Slam T20 Circuit' project with a reported investment of $500 million from Saudi. Financial clout is one thing but for this project to become a reality, BCCI and the IPL will need to shred their exclusive tag that currently is their biggest USP.

Remember, the Indian men's team players are not allowed to play in any foreign T20 leagues until they retire from all forms of the game. This, strangely, has never been the case for the women's team, and this has allowed the likes of Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur and the rest to gain crucial exposure in overseas conditions.

It took till 2023 for India to have its first women's T20 league, the Women's Premier League (WPL) but India's women cricketers are still not under any restrictions for T20 leagues - something their male counterparts are strictly put under. This explains why Saudi's initial plan is to begin with women's cricket, through SURJ Sports Investment, which is a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s PIF.

According to a report on BBC, the initial plan is to have a two-week tournament in the latter half of 2026. The proposed window is between The Hundred and Women's Big Bash League, and with BCCI's current stance on women cricketers being favourable, we could see the first step being taken in Saudi's historic cricketing dream.

However, all this will ultimately boil down to men's cricket as that drives a whopping chunk of cricket's global revenue. So, it then is a question of what and how BCCI reacts to this business model. Will it accept the proposal and finally loosen its rigid stand on foreign T20 Leagues?

Your guess is as good as mine.