Rajasthan Royals preparing lucrative contract for Jos Buttler, putting England future in danger

Jos Buttler is reportedly set to be offered a lucrative contract by Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rajasthan Royals.

Owners of IPL franchises have also been purchasing teams in other T20 leagues across the globe, including the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), SA20, ILT20 and Major League Cricket (MLC). Therefore, the franchises have been looking to offer long-term contracts to some of the best in the game that will see them play all around the year for each of their franchises.

Jos Buttler's lucrative deal

The 2008 IPL champions RR are planning to tie down Buttler in a four-year contract to represent all three of their teams, including SA20 side Paarl Royals and CPL outfit Barbados Royals, reported Telegraph. Buttler has not received the final offer yet and it is also not clear if the English T20 World Cup-winning skipper intends to accept the deal.

The exact value of the contract is still not known, but given Buttler's experience and role at RR, it is believed that the new contract will see the explosive batter earn millions of pounds every year.

Notably, it is not a surprise that RR want Buttler to sign a long-term deal. He has an excellent record for Rajasthan, with five centuries and 18 fifties in 71 games. Buttler is not only one of the best white-ball batsmen in the world but is also sharp tactically and at 32, he still has many years of T20 cricket left in him.

Meanwhile, these T20 leagues have been putting international cricket under massive pressure, with franchises looking to sign up players for longer-term deals. If Buttler does accept the offer, it would put his career with England at risk, considering his commitments with RR all year around.

Last year, Kolkata Knight Riders chief executive Venky Mysore spoke about this situation, where he backed the idea of franchises tying down players to be available for the majority of the year.

"That gives us the opportunity to make our vision and our strategy even stronger. If we were able to have X number of contracted players, and were able to use them all in different leagues, I think that would be nirvana.

"What we want to create is a common platform and a system and a culture that allows us to participate around the year - enhancing our brand, building our fan base, and providing opportunities to cricketers around the world. And in the process, you build hopefully a successful business around it," Mysore said in an interview.

England fear losing top players to franchise cricket

Meanwhile, to ensure they do not lose their top players to T20 leagues, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief executive Richard Gould stated in April that they were planning to increase match fees and offer multi-year central contracts.

"We don't have a choice in this, if we don't secure the services of our best players, the media rights deal will drop," he admitted.

Calling it an "existential issue" for ECB, Gould went on to add that they cannot be in a position where top players won't be available when the national team needs them due to franchise tournaments.

"Otherwise our values will drop. We're going to have to pay [England players' more money at some time. We'll be looking to get the match fees up, both with the men and the women," added Gould.

It is also not clear if a player would be able to hold a multi-year contract on the franchise domain as well as receive a central contract from ECB.

Earlier this year, it was reported that England fast bowler Jofra Archer was in talks with his IPL side Mumbai Indians (MI) about a deal that would require permission from his franchise to play for his national side.

Other T20 specialists from England such as Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone (both Punjab Kings) and Jason Roy, of Kolkata Knight Riders, could also be targeted for longer-term deals.