The BCCI has organized a Twenty20 franchise-based competition naming it the Indian Premier League (IPL) . This competition follows the model of the existing club football concept in Europe. This could be an important and exciting event as it has been officially approved by the ICC which will attract the best acclaimed cricketers in the world to its foray. The success of the IPL could mark a new page in the history of the Indian Premier League and world cricket.
The IPL T20 matches will take place in eight major cities in India namely Mumbai, Delhi, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Chennai, Kolkata and Bangalore. In total, there will be 59 matches starting on April 18, 2008, where the first IPL match between Bangalore Royal Challengers and Kolkata Knight Riders will be played at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. The IPL final is scheduled to be held in Mumbai on June 1, 2008.
IPL teams are led by some of the world’s favorite and acclaimed cricketers. They are:
Equipment ————————————————- ———->> Captain
Indians of Bombay ———————————->> Sachin Tendulkar
Bangalore Royal Challengers ——————>> Rahul Dravid
Calcutta Knight Riders ————————–>> Sourav Ganguly
Kings of Punjab————————————–>> Yuvraj Singh
Delhi Daredevils ———————————->> Virendra Sehwag
Super Kings of Chennai —————————>> Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Jaipur Rajasthan Royals————————-> >Shane Warne
Hyderabad Deccan Loaders ——————->>VVS Laxman
All the IPL teams are charged up and ready to score a point against each other. This is the first time international players have come together across cultural barriers to give the best of themselves.
Since most of the prominent international players participate in the IPL, each team has a special status. Internationally renowned players like Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Shoaib Akhtar, Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya, Matthew Hayden, Glenn McGrath, Michael Hussey, Muttiah Muralitharan and Stephen Fleming are ready to show off their skills.
Among these international players who played in the IPL, Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds received a bid of $1.35 million, followed by Sri Lankan all-rounder Sanath Jayasuriya with $975,000, Australian bowler Brett Lee with $900,000 USD, Jacques Kallis, all South African rounder was bid for US$900,000. The versatile New Zealander Jacob Oram and the versatile South African Albie Morkel received an offer of US$675,000. On the other hand, Chris Gayle, all-rounder from the West Indies, received an offer of US$800,000. Of the Pakistani bowlers, bowler Mohammed Asif received an offer of US$650,000, lastly not to forget the most successful Australian bowler Shane Warne received an offer of US$450,000.
The owners of the IPL teams are Indian celebrities who have invested a lot of money to bring the IPL concept to life and further popularize the game of cricket. Mukesh Ambani the Chairman of Reliance Industries owns Mumbai team Vijay Mallya Beer and airline baron owns Bangalore team Indian superstar Shah Rukh Khan along with Juhi Chawla and Jay Mehta, they own Kolkata team, Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia bagged Chandigarh team. The Hyderabad team was overtaken by the Deccan Chronicles, India Cements owns the Chennai Super Kings, the Delhi team went to GMR Holdings and last but not least, the Jaipur team was won over by Emerging Media.
