IPL Mania...the nerve of India...

IPL (Indian Premier League) fever is at it’s pinnacle… very few matches are left are before semi-finals & final & then ……the most awaited result…!! No wonder, its turning into addiction... after all, 59 matches are being played in 44 days…!! No day goes without a single match… go to any part of India & people are found discussing & guessing about the matches.
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Life is moving very fast & so is mindset of people. Instead of engaging a whole day in watching cricket, now they prefer to enjoy a three hours short but very interesting match. Huge success of Twenty20 matches is a great example of it.

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Know IPL…

BCCI launched IPL is a professional Twenty20 cricket backed by ICC. 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.

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Debuted in April, 2008, IPL council that comprises former BCCI president IS Bindra, vice-presidents Rajiv Shukla, Chirayu Amin, Lalit Modi and Arun Jaitley, and former cricketers Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri. While the BCCI officials are honorary members, Pataudi, Gavaskar and Shastri will be paid for their services. The IPL governing council will have a five-year term and will run, operate and manage the league independently of the BCCI.
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IPL works on a franchisee system based on American style of hiring players & transfers. The franchises are given right to own the team representing each city by auction for a period of 10 years. Auction took place on 24th January, 2008 & went on to fetch $723.59 million from a base price of $400 million. IPL formed 8 teams with 16 players each. Franchises have given liberty to run their team 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. Billion dollor baby…
Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) bought Mumbai Indians at $111.9 million, captained by Sachin Tendulkar.
Vijay Malya’s UB Group bought Bangalore Royal Challengers at $111.6 million, captained by Rahul Dravid.
Deccan Chronicle bought Deccan Chargers at $107 million, captained by VVS Laxman.
India Cements bought Chennai Super Kings at $91 million, captained by MS Dhoni.
GMR Group bought Delhi Daredevils at $84 million, captained by Virendra Sehwag.
Preity Zinta/Ness Wadia bought Kings XI Punjab at $76 million, captained by Yuvraj Singh.
Shah Rukh Khan/Juhi Chawla’s Red Chillies Entertainment bought Kolkata Knight Riders at $75.09 million, captained by Saurav Ganguly.
Emerging Media Group bought Rajastan Royals at $67 million, captained by Shane Warne.

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One day skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds emerged the costliest Indian and overseas players respectively. All captains are the ‘icon players’ of the respective team & can play only for respective cities.

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Apart from above expenses, franchises will have to bear the minimum cost of the players’ salary that’s between $3.2 million to $4 million. Then, there are other expenses like travel, accommodation, office and support staff, team management, coach, training and preparation, insurance, ground expenses and floodlights, marketing and promotional cost. In addition to this, if a franchisee buys a team for $60 million for 10 years, that team will have to shell out an amount of $6 million per year. In all probability, the expenditure will go up to $12 to $13 million.
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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.

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Money, Money & Money…
The overall prize money will be US $5 million, with the winners taking home $2 million. The remaining will be up for grabs in different forms, like man of the match awards and cash prizes TV rights have already gone for over $1 billion. Franchisees have already committed close to US $723 million. Top players are expected to earn minimum 1-2 crores per season.
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BCCI announced prize money details of the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL). Total prize money for this prestigious 20-20 tournament is Rs.20 crore. Lalit Modi, chairman of the Indian Premier League announced the details of prize money.
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Indian Premier League Prize money details:
1. Winning team – Rs 4.8 crore.
2. Runners-up – Rs 1.2 crore.
3. Losing semi-finalists – Rs 1.2 crore.
4. Fifth placed team – Rs 80 lakh.
5. Sixth placed team – Rs 70 lakh.
6. Seventh placed team – Rs 50 lakh.
7. Last placed team – Rs 40 lakh.
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Domestic unknown players have got name & fame apart from above monetary benefits.
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Crazy kiya re…
No country has a craze than in India about cricket. Indian cricket schedule is considered while planning out for any social events or outings. People leave early from offices or avail leave according to timings of matches. Not only classes, colleges, offices but streets & hospitals are found empty during the crucial and sensitive matches. Involvement of people is to the extent that some Indian cricket fans arrange elaborate pujas or go on a ceremonial fast on the eve of a final game of a significant international tournament. People take the matches so seriously that incidents of heart attacks during a nail-biting finish or even suicide at the loss of Indian side have also been known to occur.
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With introduction of IPL, cricket has become more commercialized than mere a game. A sport has undeniably shaping into a large industry in the country. Association of industrialists and cine-stars like Shah Rukh Khan & Preety Zinta added flavour to this. Cheerleaders, newly imported & adopted foreign culture have become part of this glorious world. Though cricket is not our national game but whole India seems to be whopping around cricket only. Other games are loosing their existence in the glitter of cricket. Big problems in the country such as farmers’ suicides & increasing inflation are kept aside.

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No doubt, IPL is a big entertainer & it has terrific impact over the population. But somewhere I feel, we have become habitual of the daily matches to such extent that we may find emptiness in life after the matches are over for the season… as there would be no match…. nothing to do in the evening…. other than looking forward to have next series of matches…