RE: [nukkad] cricket

["Dinesh Kaulgud" <>]

GOT FROM A MAIL

FAQs: the Indian Premier League 

Everything you wanted to know about the Indian Premier League 
Cricinfo Staff

What is the Indian Premier League?
The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a franchise-based Twenty20
competition organised by the BCCI, and it has official sanction since it
has the backing of the ICC. It features the world's best cricketers
playing - their affiliation decided by open auction - for eight
city-based franchises, owned by a host of businessmen and celebrity
consortiums. The inaugural edition of the tournament will run from April
18 to June 1. 

What are the logistics of the IPL?
The tournament will begin on April 18, when Bangalore take on Kolkata at
the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. The tournament will feature 59
matches in total, the teams playing each other on a home-and-away basis.
Click here for the full list of fixtures. 

Why is the IPL generating such a buzz?
Two main reasons why. One the football-club concept of the IPL, which is
unlike anything cricket has known. The best players from across the
world playing not according to nationality but according to market
forces. Second, the sheer financial scale of the IPL is unprecedented at
this level of cricket. The BCCI has already made close to US$ 1.75
billion solely from the sale of TV rights ($908 million), promotion
($108 million) and franchises (approximately $700 million). Players are
expected to earn close to US$1 million for a three-year contract. It's
an entire cricket economy out there. 

Who are the top cricketers involved?
There are 77 names in the fray, the top current players: Dhoni, Ponting,
Gilchrist, Shoaib Akhtar, Jayawardene, Jayasuriya, Yuvraj, Hayden...The
notable absentees are from England, because the IPL will clash with
their domestic season, and Australia's Michael Clarke, who opted to
focus on his regular cricket. 

Who are the franchise owners - celebrities and others?
Mukesh Ambani, the Reliance Industries chairman, acquired the Mumbai
franchise for $111.9 million over a 10-year period; beer and airline
baron Vijay Mallya, who also owns a Formula 1 team, won the Bangalore
franchise for $111.6 million; Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's Red
Chillies Entertainment won the Kolkata franchise for $75 million; the
biggest surprise was the Chandigarh franchise, which went to Preity
Zinta, another Bollywood star, and Ness Wadia, together with two other
industrialists, for $75 million. The winning team will get richer by $3
million if they win the first edition of the tournament. 

How are the players paired with teams?
The BCCI will conduct a player auction on February 20, in which the
respective franchises can bid for a maximum of eight international
players from pool of 89 players who have been contracted to the board.
But Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, and Yuvraj Singh are
not up for auction as they have been given 'iconic' status by the BCCI -
which means that they have to represent the city in which they are
based. Another exception to the bidding process is with regard to the
Australian players - a clause in the rules of Cricket Australia has
meant that each team can select a maximum of two Australians. 

Whose idea is the IPL?
The IPL is the brainchild of Lalit Modi, the vice-president of the BCCI,
and is modeled along the lines of club football in Europe, specifically
the English Premier League. Though there is a school of thought that the
idea came about in the 1990s, the announcement that such a tournament
would happen, and which it would be a precursor to Twenty20 Champions
League, cricket's version of the European Champions League, came only
after Subhash Chandra, the owner of Zee Televison said, in April last
year, that he was intending to start an unofficial league called the
Indian Cricket League, fuelling speculation that is was a reactive idea
rather than a proactive one. 

How different are the IPL and ICL to each other?
The IPL is an official sanctioned Twenty20 tournament, and unlike the
ICL, which is not recognised by any of the national boards or the ICC,
it will have a better status, international reach, players, and the
requisite infrastructure by default. Since the IPL is sanctioned by the
ICC, players don't have the danger of bringing their
international/first-class careers to a halt - as is the case with the
ICL - whose players have been banned by the various boards. Another
major difference is with regard to franchises - the ownership of the
team rests with the individual owners and not one single entity. 

REGARDS,

DINESH KAULGUD.

-----Original Message-----
From: pmwalunjkar@aol.in  
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2008 11:42 AM
To: nukkad-list@mumbai-central.com
Subject: [nukkad] cricket

though i read in the papers about the ongoing auctions in the cricket
world, i have not really understood the idea.
what is this new trend? 
who is going to benefit from these deals?
why are eminent personalities like shahrukh khan, ambanis, priety zinta
investing crores of rupees in this?
why are the moral police silent?
leaving everything aside, is it really going to benefit CRICKET? 

please enlighten.

- pravin

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