Introduction to IPL - Indian Premier League

The Indian Premier League (IPL), created by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and sanctioned by the International Cricket Council (ICC), is a Twenty20 format cricket competition. It was announced after the BCCI declined permission to allow BCCI-contracted players to play in the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL).

BCCI launched the Indian Premier League (IPL) on September 14, 2007. Based on the lines of the English Premier League (EPL) and the National Basketball League (NBA).

The IPL is said to be the brainchild of BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi. The idea was first floated in 1996 but was shot down as the board felt it would go against the zonal system of domestic cricket. The project moved into top gear when the Zee group launched a rival Indian Cricket League on similar lines in April 2007.

The league is scheduled to start in April 2008 and will last for 44 days, involving 59 matches. The prize money for the league will be around Rs.13 crore (US $3million).

The governing council of IPL consists of Chairman and Commissioner Lalit Modi, Sunil Gavaskar, MAK Pataudi and Ravi Shastri, Rajiv Shukla, Chirayu Amin, Inderjit Singh Bindra and Arun Jaitley.

IPL is going to be a franchise system. The franchisees will own the eight teams in the fray. They can run them in their own styles, bring their own sponsors and even name the team according to their choice. They will even be free to list their teams on the stock exchange.

The BCCI has already signed up 80 International players who will also be put for auction soon.

IPL matches will be played nder lights, on a home and away basis, in the cities that have formed the teams.

Sony Entertainment, a division of Japan’s Sony Corp, and the Asia-based World Sports Group (WSG) won the broadcast rights for ten years, worth more than a whopping US $1 billion. TV rights are worth $918 million, with $100 million set aside for promotion.