The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has chosen to open up funding to the commercial sector for The Hundred.

ECB thinks that private investment will propel the Hundred "to the next level" and make it the second-biggest franchise league in the world, right behind the Indian Premier League (IPL). However, the question of how many Indian Premier League (IPL) teams will express interest in participating has emerged as a significant one.

IPL teams have taken issue with the ECB's decision to remove the English players from the competition before it reached the playoffs, and they have brought the subject up with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

“Not sure if the BCCI will encourage the teams to invest in The Hundred, after what they have done. In such a backdrop, how will the BCCI react if the IPL teams line up to invest in an ECB project,” a franchise official told Cricbuzz.

Due to obligations to their national teams, a number of English players were forced to exit the IPL 2024 before the playoffs. Among them were Phil Salt of the Kolkata Knight Riders, Jos Buttler of the Rajasthan Royals, Will Jacks and Reece Topley of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, and Sam Curran of the Punjab Kings.

During the pivotal knockout stages, their teams suffered from their absence. Furthermore, players connected to the IPL season included Luke Wood, Tom Curran, Chris Woakes, Tom Kohler-Cardmore, and Mark Wood; however, they ultimately chose not to play for a variety of reasons.