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The world's top cricketers have found out exactly what they are worth at India's new cricket league which held its first player auction on Wednesday.
The Indian Premier League, a new tournament based on the shortened "Twenty20" format of the game, auctioned more than 80 domestic and international players to eight new teams based in the country's major cities.
"We just unfurled our new brand today - we have called the team the 'Delhi Dare-devils', signifying the go-getting spirit of Delhi," said Vijay Vancheswar. His infrastructure company, GMR Group, bought the rights to the Delhi team and will be bidding for players.
The launch of the IPL by India's supreme cricketing body, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), marks the final commercialisation of the gentleman's game, putting it in a similar mould to football's English Premiership or American baseball.
The 44-day IPL starts in April and will feature 59 matches. Unlike Test and one-day formats, Twenty20 takes just a few hours to play. This, together with its cheerleaders and big-hitting action, renders it tailor-made for prime-time television.
Money spinner
It is already proving a huge money-spinner for the BCCI. The body last month sold the team franchises to companies controlled by people such as billionaire Mukesh Ambani and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan for a total of about $724 million (Dh2.67 billion). It also sold the TV and promotional rights for the tournament to Sony and Singapore-based World Sports Group for a total of $1.1 billion, 80 per cent of which will be redistributed among the eight teams.
The BCCI and the teams will also earn money from sponsorships, merchandising, tickets, stadium hospitality and prize money. The players, meanwhile, stand to gain from the auction and brand endorsements.
Up for sale were the game's greats such as Australia's Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist, while Indian champions such as Sachin Tendulkar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, will play for their home team. Each team is allowed to spend upto $5 million on eight contracted players.
Cricket traditionalists and former players are amazed at the transformation of their game. Yajurvindra Singh, who played for India in the 1970s, says cricketers were so poorly paid during tours in England that their daily allowance did not even cover laundry. "One thing Indian players never did then was dive for catches because you would have green [from the grass] on your uniform and you'd have to pay to have it dry-cleaned," he said.
Many people question whether the tournament will be a success. A rival Twenty20 league launched by a media conglomerate, the Essel Group, has struggled to get off the ground.
There is also concern that ticket prices might be unaffordable and that, in spite of their obsession with the national squad, people might not identify with the new regional teams.
At Mumbai's historic Oval Maidan there was no shortage of enthusiasm.
"Twenty20's a wonderful game, very exciting and the match is over in just three hours," said Sadat Barmane, a 17-year-old student who was having a lunchtime hit with some classmates.
But a friend chipped in: "If we get a chance to go, we will go. But poor people can't afford tickets."
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