Indian cricket stars may well be on their way to playing the T20 league in England - the Hundred if the England and Wales Cricket Board brings the BCCI as a "minority ownership partner". According to Lancashire CEO Daniel Gidney, this idea can open the doors and attract Indian players to the tournament.

Even though Indian men's players are not issued 'No Objection Certificates' to play outside the IPL, the T20 league owners have expanded their footprint across the globe, and have stakes in SA20 (South Africa), ILT20 (UAE) and Major League Cricket (USA).

In a report published by ESPNCricinfo, Gidney stated that "aligning interests" would be the way to bring Indian players to compete in The Hundred.

"I think it's possible. If I was the ECB, I'd be talking about perhaps bringing the BCCI in as a minority ownership partner in the tournament as a whole. If you do that, then you are aligning interests," he said.

"That is probably your best chance of getting (Indian) players in The Hundred. It comes down to the will, and the individuals on both sides," Gidney said.

"The BCCI have been really successful with protecting their brand and by making sure they don't plan any T20 tournaments anywhere in the world…

"If I was the BCCI, then I would have to say I would need a significant incentive to relax the current policy because that has been extraordinarily successful and has grown the IPL into the massive commercial entity that it is," he said.

Gidney also cited the ties between Lancashire and Indian players to make his point.

"We've probably had more Indian overseas players than any other county. When you have VVS Laxman at the NCA, who Mark Chilton (Lancashire director of cricket) captained, then you have strong relationships all the way through," he said.

"If you build a relationship with the BCCI and understand the types of players that they see as potential future Test players, that's a lot easier than putting in an NOC request saying, 'We'd like to see Virat Kohli or Rishabh Pant playing in the County Championship’," he added.

Gidney also proposed hosting of exhibition matches for starters.

"Imagine having an LSG (Lucknow Super Giants) vs Delhi Capitals game here at Old Trafford — at the end of the season, say in September. That could be pretty mega, in terms of the Indian fans in the UK. It would make commercial sense for everybody," he said.

(With PTI inputs)

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