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Dubai: The Indian Premier League (IPL) is set to draw attention from every corner of the world. Some of the greatest stars in the game have been signed up to create waves in the new cricket tournament.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) created it to overcome the threat from business tycoon Subash Chandra's rebel Twenty20 event, the Indian Cricket League (ICL).
The IPL, owing to its huge financial backing as well as the official support from the other cricket boards, may turn out to be the biggest sport extravaganza ever staged in India.
With an aim to involve all cricket fans in India, the IPL announced eight city franchises and their owners happen to be a mix of the biggest names in the field of business and Bollywood. The auction to pick owners fetched the IPL $723.59 million (Dh2.7 billion).
Mukesh Ambani's Reliance India acquired the Mumbai franchise for $111.9 million (Dh420 million) for a 10-year period. Vijay Mallya, a liquor and airline baron who also owns a Formula One team, won the Bangalore franchise for $111.6 million (Dh420 million). Shah Rukh Khan, the Bollywood superstar claimed the Kolkata franchise for $75 million (Dh280 million) through his entertainment company called Red Chillies.
Over and above all these, the BCCI will get more than $1 billion (Dh3.75 billion) from Sony Television and Singapore-based World Sports Group for 10 years of TV rights.
The IPL will take off in April and in October they will stage a Twenty20 Champions League, an invitation tournament for the best teams from India, South Africa, England and Australia.
Whopping prize fund
The prize fund is a whopping $5 million (Dh19 million) and the winning team can pocket $2 million (Dh7.5 million). In fact, the money that the teams who make it to the top can earn is much more than what they could get from participating in International Cricket Council-sponsored tournaments like the Champions Trophy and even the World Cup.
The IPL has already lined up the best cricketers around the world with Shane Warne, despite retiring from cricket, set to receive $400,000 (Dh750,000). Other stars include Glenn McGrath, Kumar Sangakkara and Graeme Smith, to name just a few. The IPL has nearly 70 cricketers in their register already.
The IPL has bracketed Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh and Rahul Dravid as icon players who will not be available for any team other than their city team.
The players' auction will take place on February 20. Among the recent players who have been signed up are Pakistan's Umar Gul and Kamran Akmal, Zimbabwe's Tatendu Taibu and Sri Lanka's Chamara Silva and Tilakaratne Dilshan.
It has been made very clear that no franchises can directly sign up any player. Lalit Modi, the vice-president of the BCCI and the brain behind the IPL, said that the minimum bidding amount for a pool of contracted players in each franchise team has been fixed at $3million (Dh11 million) and the maximum cap at $5 million Dh19 million).
The auction will be done in such a manner that the players will be divided into six categories based on their skills such as opening batsman, middle-order batsmen, fast bowlers, spinners, allrounders and wicket keepers.
The IPL has also made it clear that players will not be allowed to shift teams during the first year. The league has also instructed that there should be four local players, including any of the four iconic players, and four cricketers under the age of 22 from anywhere in the country.
With so much money for the taking there could be the danger of cricket overkill. No one still knows how the Twenty20 league will fit into the existing ICC calendar. Already it will clash with Australia's tour of Pakistan and West Indies and also New Zealand's series in England.
It is feared senior cricketers from many countries are keen to play in the IPL rather than go on official international tours to play Tests and ODIs.
Right now, the IPL may take off smoothly. The danger will lie when it starts clashing with a scheduled international tournament. This is an event to be handled with care.
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