When Trent Boult was signed by MI London in The Hundred auction earlier this month, it initially appeared to be a routine overseas pick. A closer look, however, reveals a wider pattern.
Boult is already part of the Mumbai Indians in the IPL, MI Cape Town in SA20, and MI New York in Major League Cricket. His inclusion in MI London will be another team within the same ownership structure in the same season, following his stint with MI Emirates in the ILT20 in 2024.
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This is just one example of what can be described as the illusion of expansion in T20 leagues. When multiple leagues first emerged, the expectation was to broaden the game, give more players opportunities, reach fans in new markets, and generate financial gains.
The calendar has expanded accordingly, but the pool of players circulating through these competitions has not grown at the same pace. Instead, a familiar group continues to move across tournaments, often within overlapping franchise networks.
Different jerseys, but the same players
The numbers underline this clearly. From June 2022 through the end of that franchise season, in May 2023, across the eight competitions that we have considered - IPL, BBL, SA20, ILT20, PSL, CPL, MLC, and The Hundred - seven players featured in five or more leagues. 20 players appeared in four leagues, and 41 in three. In total, 68 players participated in three or more leagues.
Four seasons later, the pattern has intensified. In the latest season of the top eight leagues, seven players appeared in five competitions, 30 in four, and 55 in three, making it 92 in all who play three leagues or more.
While it seems opportunities would have increased with more specialised T20 players available, the data shows that expansion has largely benefited a recurring core rather than a broader set of players. Across the last three seasons, the total number of players involved in these leagues has risen only slightly; a larger proportion of cricketers now play multiple leagues.
This becomes more evident when multiple squads are read collectively rather than in isolation. In the upcoming season, Nicholas Pooran will feature for Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL, and plays for Trinbago Knight Riders in the CPL, but is with four MI-owned leagues otherwise: MI Emirates in the ILT20, MI New York in MLC, MI Cape Town in the SA20, and MI London in the Hundred.
Andre Russell and Sunil Narine have moved through Knight Riders-linked teams across the IPL, CPL, ILT20, and MLC. Rashid Khan seemingly appears everywhere, but he too has locked down gigs with multiple MI teams.
Even where ownership links are less direct, the pattern persists: Jos Buttler, Phil Salt, and Heinrich Klaasen feature across leagues, while Tim David, David Miller, and Quinton de Kock remain near-constant presences as well.
Why do the same players keep getting franchise deals?
Individually, these selections make sense. T20 teams rely on defined roles, and players who consistently deliver in those roles offer the franchises reliability. Each side is limited in the number of overseas players it can field, and these slots are increasingly filled by familiar names.
Ownership structures amplify this effect. The Mumbai Indians network now operates across five leagues, while the Knight Riders group spans the IPL, CPL, ILT20, and MLC. Other IPL teams, including Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, and Sunrisers Hyderabad, also maintain multi-league presences, and recruitment is no longer isolated. Scouting systems, analysis, and role definitions are shared, so a player who fits one team often fits another within the network.
Player pathways illustrate this. Dewald Brevis moved through the Mumbai Indians ecosystem in SA20 and MLC, though he has now expanded into other teams. Vignesh Puthur progressed from a net bowler for MI Cape Town in SA20 into the Mumbai Indians IPL squad, before now playing for the Rajasthan Royals. Corbin Bosch moved within overlapping scouting networks, across the Royals franchise, and is now with MI in the IPL and the SA20. Players often benefit from continuity in team management across leagues, which makes it easier to join multiple sides within the same network.
The BBL and PSL offer a partial contrast, with both tournaments having fewer players who are commonly seen elsewhere. The BBL overlaps with SA20 and ILT20, limiting access to players who have now gone on to strike deals with the IPL-owned franchises. So, someone like Pooran, tied to the MI ecosystem, is unavailable for that window.
A year ago, it was reported that Alex Hales would be giving up his domestic contract to take up a deal with the Knight Riders, prioritising his participation in those teams instead.
Australia’s Big Bash League is not yet privatised, and remains heavily reliant on domestic talent. Furthermore, schedule clashes with the SA20 and ILT20 mean there is a more niche overseas group playing Down Under.
The PSL faces a different constraint, with its window clashing with the IPL. While it continues to attract quality overseas cricketers, many are not the most in-demand or not engaged across multiple top-tier leagues. For example, David Warner, slated to play the upcoming PSL, appeared in only two tournaments over the last year (BBL and MLC among them), aside from the PSL in 2025. Marnus Labuschagne, having played solely in the BBL in the last year, will captain a PSL team this season.
Daryl Mitchell, one of the top-ranked ODI players, will also feature in the PSL this year, but his T20I credentials will not make you sit up and notice.
There have also been instances of players who have terminated their PSL contracts after being called in as replacements in the concurrently running IPL. This continued this year with Blessing Muzarabani, even after Bosch was handed a one-season ban from the PSL for doing the same last season. At some level, it does suggest where the tournament ranks in terms of star power.
This also means younger Pakistani players are not consistently sharing dressing rooms with the same multi-league cricketers, which, over time, affects exposure to elite standards, preparation, adaptability, and tactical awareness.
The effects of franchise cricket's repetitiveness
This, in turn, shapes competition itself. Players moving through the IPL, SA20, ILT20, and MLC face the highest levels of franchise T20 cricket, often against the same elite opponents. That continuity sharpens both individual skill and collective understanding. Players with regular access to this pool gain a knowledge advantage; others, outside the circuit, do not.
This pattern is evident among associate and lower- ranked teams too. Players like Ireland's Paul Stirling have excelled in the format, yet opportunities in top-tier franchises remain scarce. Zimbabwe's Sikandar Raza and the USA's Ali Khan have featured prominently at times, but breakthroughs from those teams are limited.
Those who do, such as Nepal's Sandeep Lamichhane in the IPL, often reach greater heights, underscoring the value of exposure to elite circuits. Without it, emerging talent misses out on the intense tactical, technical, and professional learning gained from playing alongside the world's best. The result is a widening gap, with the improvement limited to a small pool, while the broader base of international cricket remains underexposed. Over time, this constrains competitive balance.
Even in women’s cricket, early signs point to a similar structure. A core group of international players is appearing across competitions, transferring experience and tactical clarity. The scale is smaller, but the pattern mirrors the men’s game.
Franchise cricket has undoubtedly expanded the map of the sport. But what appears as expansion is, however, repetition. The system has grown, but not evenly. Increasingly, the defining metric is not the number of leagues, but the number of players circulating within the same networks, and that's where the illusion of T20 cricket lies.
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