Indian Premier League and Cricket News by IPL Cricket Forum

On the final day of Ficci Frames 2008 which was dedicated to Sports and Entertainment, BCCI VP Lalit Modi, who gave the keynote, said, “When Brett Lee who plays for Mohali takes Sachin’s wicket will the Mohali cricket fans cheer against Sachin and cheer for their team? That is a key issue facing us.

“Our initial aim will be to get fans into stadiums. The ultimate aim is for the rivalry between Delhi and Mumbai to match what exists between Liverpool and Manchester United. Of course this will not happen overnight. The creation of fan clubs will take time. It will not happen in the first year.”

Another challenge, he concedes, is getting women and children to watch the IPL instead of the regular Saas Bahu soaps. IPL is in direct competition because it is in prime time.

Ten Sports senior VP programming and production Peter Hutton is pleased about the fact that finally cricket is being scheduled during primetime and during weekends. This he says should have been done some time ago. Sport after all is paid for by television.

He notes that ICL has been faring better than international cricket matches not featuring India. This shows the power of the Twenty20 format.

Another challenge that the IPL faces lies in creating the kind of emotional connect that the national Indian cricket team has.

Former cricketer Ajay Jadeja notes that Indians do not love sport. “We love the national Indian cricket team. That is why a South Africa versus Australia match which is high in quality gets low ratings compared with an India versus Bangladesh encounter which might be low in quality. There is an emotional attachment. It also exists for the Olympics and so when Rathod wins an Olympic medla we are ecstatic. If he does well in the World Champiopnships nobody is watching,” adds Jadeja.

He also points out that cricket has the obstacle in that some players do not play for clubs with the same fervour as they do for their national teams. For instance Ganguly did not bond well with Lancashire. Team culture is not a priority in many cases.

“In soccer you have players giving their all for their clubs. In fact some of them play their best for their clubs as opposed to their national sides. The club culture is embedded in that sport. For cricket it is often the opposite. Above all people watching the IPL need to believe that what they are seeing is real and not some reality show,” says Jadeja.

Modi agrees that cricket has to be competitive and serious. There needs to be a hunger to win. Rivalries need to be real; Shah Rukh Khan might drive people into the stadiums but if the cricket is not a compelling experience how many people will stick around?

While IPL is trying to replicate the success of the English Premier League (EPL) one of the reasons why the EPL does well is that England is a small country. PwC’s Thompson notes that this allows fans can travel with their teams.

Teams playing away matches get support. Will India be able to replicate this given its geography? Also big cities in the UK have different teams like Manchester United and Manchester City. This gives the local sports culture a huge boost. He spoke about a 60 city model for local sport. He also says that the reason the EPL gets so much money is the exclusivity of pay TV. In India this does not exist.

Still it is important not to get pessimistic from the outset. The IPL has gotten new partners Hutton notes. Setanta will air cricket for the first time courtesy IPL. ” In Dubai there is a lot of interest about what is happening here. This is a far cry from the days when the BCCI had to pay someone to produce domestic cricket. I think that different loyalties can be created over time.”

Modi further notes that the IPL marks the first that a sports league on this scale has been built from the ground up adds Modi. With EPL for instance clubs already existed and it was a question of putting their rights into one body. Asked as to why there was cap on the players purse during the auction he explains that the aim was to provide a level playing field. “This cap though is only for the first year. From the second year players can be traded. Keep in mind though the fact that corporates will not be tolerant of poor performances by players. They are not being picked by selectors.”

He also had words of encouragement for other sports. He notes that as the economy grows there are more choices becoming available besides Bollywood and soaps. “You now have international sports events where international players like Rafeal Nadal, the Williams sisters playing here. The FI Grand Prix which takes place in Delhi in 2014 will be a landmark event.”

And what can other sports learn from the IPL? Sports editor Ayaz Memon notes that it is key that other sports shake off the sluggishness of sports bodies. State apathy needs to be replaced with the drive of private enterprise which is what is being seen in the IPL. Jadeja further lamented the fact that India has a sports minister who has no interest in this genre.

Speaking to the BBC, Lalit Modi, Chairman IPL said that he knows a lot of them ( England Players) are interested in IPL but he does not want a conflict with the English season. He also said that -if that means we have to move our matches a few weeks in advance, we would be happy to do that to accommodate the English players. “We would like to see a lot
of the English players in the IPL but I cannot commit to them until the ECB actually finds a window and clears them” - Modi added

Modi has said several times over the past month that English players were interested, and his latest comments seem to be a response to Giles Clarke, the England board (ECB) chairman, who earlier said that no English-qualified players could be poached by the IPL. “We have a contract with the BCCI in that contract, they’re not allowed to take any English players of any kind to play in IPL if there is no No Objection Certificate. The IPL will not play any player who has not received an NOC.”

IPl will sure do well with a few of the top notch english cricketers.

As per BCCI guidelines, CAB is looking out for a competent and experienced person to appoint as the CEO for CAB preferable with a management background.

CAB Joint Secretary Samar Paul said that its important for the person to have administrative capabilities though that they must have some connection with the sporting
arena. We don’t want someone who feels like a fish out of water, trying to handle sports administration,” Paul said. He informed that the CEO will send reports of the day-to-day activities to the joint-secretaries.

The proposal to appoint the CEO will have to be ratified at the working committee meeting of the CAB on April 28. Meanwhile, the Calcutta Police has objected to the Red Chillies Entertainment’s, the owners of the Kolkata Knight Riders, decision to have punching machines for the checking of tickets at the entrance gates of the Eden Gardens for the
IPL matches.

Commissioner of Police Goutam Mohan Chakraborty told the CAB president Prasun Mukherjee and representatives of the Red Chillies group on Monday that if a punching machine conks off in any of the gates, it can lead to a huge chaos.
“The Red Chillies representative has told us that there will be alternative machines, but we don’t rule out the option of manual ticket checking at the gates as well,” Paul added.

The Kolkata Police will also be charging fees for maintaining the security and law and order during the matches. “This is the first time we’ll charge fees for matches at the Eden Gardens. This tournament has a commercial interest and that’s why we have taken the decision,” DC headquarters Vineet Goyal said, adding that the amount will be decided
in due course.

Kolkata isa city of avid sport lovers and also they love politics equally. Lets see who finally gets to occupy the coveted chair or maybe we will again see the red adminstration once again poking their long noses in this affair too.

Sony has sold all its inventory. But questions on valuations persist. While everyone will not make money in the first year, IPL Commisioner Lalit Modi guarantees that everyone will make money

I am ready to buy back any franchisee that is ready to sell - says Lalit Modi. He also added - the problem is not that. The people who are talking either have lost out or not got a franchise. I have not heard this from anybody who has bought a franchise. So, this is a speculation that you are doing in the market. Advertisers are coming on board. Sponsors are coming on board at higher rates than ever before. We are not arm-twisting them; they make their own decisions,he stated.

Sony, as a broadcaster, actually has sold out the entire inventory. It has never happened even in an India match that the entire inventory of Sony Television is sold out for 59 days. Our franchisees are ahead of business plans. Advertisers are signing in day in and day out. So, where is the issue?,he added.

Board of Cricket Control in India has declared that Indian Premier
League (IPL) captains will abide by the ‘spirit of cricket‘ pledge.

The question rose due to the recently concluded
Indian tour to Australia where events in the infamous Sydney Test
involving Harbhajan, Symonds prompted India Test skipper Anil Kumble to say that only India was
playing in the spirit of cricket.

With bad blood expected during the upcoming IPL series, the BCCI wants to ensure that the multi-national
and star-studded Indian Premier League (IPL) is not devasted by
individual skirmishes on the cricket field.

IPL governing
council member Inderjit Bindra told Hindustan Times today that the
captains of all eight City teams will take a pledge “to play by the
spirit of the game before the tournament gets rolling.”

Meanwhile
the official IPL site will be launched on April 7, while BCCI’s
official portal is due to go live sometime in July this year. A North
American company has been handed the responsiblity of running both
sites.

The IPL kicks off on April 18 at the Chinaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. The BCCI has decided to
bear 50 percent of the cost of the opening ceremony along with Bangalore
franchise owner United Breweries Group, which is headed by Vijay
Mallya.