Mark Taylor has raised strong concerns over Cricket Australia’s reported plan to stage the Big Bash League opener in India, warning that the move could drag attention away from Australia’s home Test summer.
The former Australia captain said the proposal reflected a wider problem in world cricket, with India’s financial power now influencing domestic leagues, international scheduling and player availability.
Taylor questions BBL’s India plan
Cricket Australia is reportedly exploring the possibility of opening the 2026-27 Big Bash League season in India, with Chennai emerging as a possible venue. The fixture is expected to be staged in early-to-mid December, around the same period Australia begin their four-match Test series against New Zealand.
Taylor said the timing made little sense from a Test cricket perspective. “You’re going to see two Big Bash teams go to India right at the time that the Australian cricket team are playing a Test series here,” Taylor said on Nine’s Wide World of Sports. “From a Test-watching lover, I don’t like it. I believe if it happens, it will be in early to mid-December when the Test matches are due to start. Australia play New Zealand in a four-match Test series on December 9. To me, any sort of game like that we take away from the Tests matches which I love. But it is also monsoon season, so it would be strange to send two sides there and have a wash out game then they have to come back.”
Taylor’s comments came after Nine presenter Nick McArdle pointed out that Australian fans are used to watching the BBL during the Christmas period, when the sporting calendar is relatively clear.
Taylor agreed with that broader point, but said the issue had now become bigger than just the Big Bash. He linked the proposed India match to the growing influence of the IPL and the way Australian cricket is being forced to operate around Indian cricket’s financial pull.
“India is where the money is”: Mark Taylor
Taylor said Cricket Australia had little choice but to acknowledge India’s central position in the sport’s economy, even if it created awkward consequences for Australia’s own calendar.
“There are so many moving parts, but the bottom line is that India is where the money is … it is up to CA to keep the BCCI happy,” he said. “They (CA) want the players to go to India and play, but most Australians are not following the IPL that closely. I am certainly not. It is a bit of a sideline … but it is now the main part of where world cricket is at. International games like our one-game series in Pakistan will be influenced by the IPL. The finals are coming up, and Australian players will be in those finals, but we don’t know who they are going to be yet. This is the sort of mess we have at the moment.”
The comments came amid reports that Australian player availability for the upcoming ODI series against Pakistan has also been shaped by the IPL finals. Some players were not picked because of the possibility that they could be involved in the IPL playoffs, even though the final qualification picture had not been fully settled at the time of selection.
That uncertainty has strengthened Taylor’s broader argument. His concern is not limited to one BBL match in India. It is about the growing difficulty of protecting international cricket windows when franchise commitments, broadcast value and India’s market power are pulling the calendar in different directions.
The proposed BBL opener in India would be a major commercial step for Cricket Australia. It would take the league directly into cricket’s biggest market and could help the competition build visibility outside Australia. But Taylor’s warning cuts through the financial logic. For him, staging a BBL match overseas while Australia are beginning a home Test series risks sending the wrong message about priorities.
Australia’s Test summer has long been one of the sport’s most protected windows. Taylor’s criticism suggests that even that space is no longer immune from the pressure of the global T20 economy.
