Indian Premier League (IPL) – A new name in the world of cricket
The BCCI has organized a Twenty20 franchise-based competition naming it the Indian Premier League (IPL) . This competition is modeled after the existing club football concept in Europe. This could be a major and exciting event as it has been officially sanctioned by the ICC which will attract the world’s best acclaimed cricketers to its foray. The success of the IPL could mark a new page in the history of the Indian Premier League and world cricket.
IPL T20 matches will be held 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 match of the IPL between Bangalore Royal Challengers and Kolkata Knight Riders will be played at Bangalore’s Chinnaswamy Stadium. The IPL final is scheduled to be held in Mumbai on June 1, 2008.
The IPL teams are led by some of the world’s favorite and acclaimed cricketers. Is it so:
Equipment ————————————————- ———->> Captain
Bombay Indians ———————————->> 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
Chargers Hyderabad Deccan ——————->>VVS Laxman
All IPL teams are loaded and ready to score a point against each other. This is the first time that international players have come together across cultural barriers to give their best.
Since most of the top 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 an offer of $1.35 million, followed by Sri Lankan all-rounder Sanath Jayasuriya at $975,000, Australian bowler Brett Lee at $900,000 USD, Jacques Kallis, all rounder South African was offered for US$900,000. New Zealand multi-talented Jacob Oram and South African multi-talented Albie Morkel received an offer of US$675,000. On the other hand, Chris Gayle, an 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 forgetting that the most successful Australian bowler Shane Warne received an offer of US$450,000.
The IPL team owners 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 the Mumbai team, Vijay Mallya, beer and airline baron, owns the Bangalore team, Indian superstar Shah Rukh Khan, along with Juhi Chawla and Jay Mehta, they own the team from Kolkata, Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia bagged the team from Chandigarh. The Hyderabad team was beaten by the Deccan Chronicles, India Cements owns the Chennai Super Kings, the Delhi team went to GMR Holdings, and lastly, Emerging Media beat the Jaipur team.