“Sachin can’t own IPL team”

If Sachin Tendulkar had any inclination to jointly bid for a team of the Indian Premier League, he will have to think of an alternative what with the BCCI stating today (November 13) that no contracted player will be allowed to make a bid to own an IPL team.

Just when reports suggested the Master Blaster was keenly considering a joint bid to co-own a Franchise of the Indian Premier League, the Board has made it’s stand clear.

Senior board officials have catagorically told TIMES NOW that no current player would be allowed to make bid to own an IPL team.

“Sachin’s playing – when someone is playing, where does this question of owning a team crop up?” said BCCI Vice President Rajiv Shukla.

“Anyone who is contracted cannot own a team. So far there is nothing in this scheme that players can also buy. So unless it is built in as a clause how can they buy,” said BCCI joint secretary M P Pandove.

The BCCI has for now put its position in the open following media reports that said the Kishore Biyani-promoted Future Group were in talks with Sachin Tendulkar for a partnership to bid and own a team representing Mumbai in the official league.

Leading retail gaints The Future Group meanwhile were tight lipped about their possible alliance with the Master Blaster, terming the reports today as “speculation”.

Current players may not have the right to own IPL teams, but the race to pick franchise stakes with the IPL is gaining steam with leading corporate biggies entering the fray. Business Tycoons like Vijay Mallya and the Ambanis are believed to be finalising formalities with the Indian cricket board to pick stakes with the official league.

Tendulkar’s attempts of picking a minority stake in an IPL franchise may not happen following BCCI’s hard-stance on the issue – but will the star-cricketer still pursue the matter?

Reports suggest the BCCI have levelled a base price of $50 mn (USD) for owning a 10-year Franchise with the IPL, but sources say the figure could swell anywhere between $75 mn to $90 mn. IPL clearly means big bucks and understandably corporate bigwigs are keen on getting their share of the pie.

Not just corporates and Hollywood celebrities – even the biggest brands among cricketers want to own stakes with the highly lucrative Indian Premier League.

But the BCCI for now have clearly put their foot down reiterating that no current cricketer will own a stake in any of the IPL franchises.

Shah Rukh among bidders for IPL franchise

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan is among the 90 bidders for a franchise from among the teams competing in the $3 million Indian Premier League (IPL) next year, a top Board official said on Tuesday.Even as some of the top business names have been mentioned among bidders, cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, whose name was also doing the rounds, will not be allowed to bid, as the Board will bar current cricketers from bidding for a franchise.

“Shah Rukh Khan has bid for a franchise,” the official told IANS.

According to the official, England-based Lord Swaraj Paul is also in the fray. “There are a lot of prominent businessmen and personalities among the 90 bidders we have received so far,” he said.

While the franchisees will also bid for the players, some ‘iconic’ stars like Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly will play only for home teams.

The other prominent bidders are business tycoon Vijay Mallya, Anil Ambani and Hollywood actor Russel Crowe, a cousin of former New Zealand cricket captain Martin Crowe.

The floor price for the bidders has been fixed at $50 million.

Mumbai, the game’s hub and home to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) headquarters, and Delhi, where the board was formed in 1928, are amongst the big favourites with bidders.

A final decision on the teams, the league format and other related issues would be taken at an IPL governing council meeting Nov 17 in Jaipur.

The IPL, conceived by BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi and backed by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and all 10 Test-playing nations, will comprise 56 matches in Twenty20 format.

Many of the world’s top cricketers, like Australians Shane Warne and Glenn McGarth, South Africa captain Graeme Smith, Pakistan’s Mohammed Yousuf, New Zealand’s Stephen Fleming and Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene, have signed to play in the IPL.

IPL will feature eight teams, with each playing home and away games against the others. After the league matches, the top four teams will play in the semi-finals with the grand final scheduled towards April-end.

Each franchise/team will have a squad of 16 players registered with the BCCI and drawn from its central contract pool. Moreover, each team will also feature under-21 players and those from the BCCI’s annual contract.

All matches will be played under floodlights at BCCI-designated stadia across the country for a total prize purse of $3 million, making this the richest cricket tournament in the world.

There will be eight franchises for the first year and the IPL hopes to double that number to 16 by 2010.

Kapil insists ICL to go on despite problems

Kapil Dev, the former Indian captain who is heading the unofficial Indian Cricket League, has said the tournament will go ahead despite pressures from various boards around the world.

The ICL has been facing a slew of problems since its launch, from the active opposition of the Indian board to the massive wage bill incurred by promising dozens of players’ hefty packages that start at Rs30 lakhs (US$ 80,000 approx). But Kapil was determined to prove the doubters wrong.

One key problem is the availability of grounds, with the BCCI barring the use of any of its facilities to the ICL. However, he claims to have found a functioning ground at Panchkula near Chandigarh. “We have done the pavilion and the lights will be ready,” Kapil was quoted as saying in the London-based Daily Telegraph. “The advertisements are running on Indian television, the publicity has started, and we have prepared the uniforms for all six teams. “We are very determined and very proud of what we are doing, which will promote the game of cricket and give many young players the chance to build a career. If people think they can block us, that’s fine. The best thing is just to wait and watch.”

News related to the ICL has been trickling into the Indian media on a daily basis. It has conducted two camps so far, the second of which ended in Chennai on October 25, and is now planning regional camps in Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Delhi. The Kolkata camp, starting on Friday, will be overseen by Daryll Cullinan, the former South African batsman roped in to coach the Calcutta Tigers team.

However the Indian Express reported that the camp could run into difficulties because the venue, the Calcutta Cricket & Football Club (CC&FC), is an affiliated unit of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB). It’s also one of the founding members of the CAB. The connection could force the ICL organisers to look out for another venue.

The Calcutta Tigers currently comprises 13 players from the domestic circuit — seven from Bengal, four from Assam and two from Jharkhand – while the names of the five international players allocated for the side from the east zone will be announced in a couple of days’ time. Following the Kolkata camp the players will fly down to Mumbai for a round of warm-up matches before heading to Panchkula.

Meanwhile there was some controversy surrounding ICL in Bhopal, in central India. Former Indian allrounder JP Yadav and Mohnish Mishra, another first-class cricketer, were not allowed to play in the All India Manish Agnihotri Memorial Cricket Tournament in Bhopal because of their alignment with the league.

ICL : Imran and Taufiq leave for India today

KARACHI: Pakistan Test openers Imran Farhat and Taufiq Umar are leaving for New Delhi, India on Wednesday (today) to play in the Indian Cricket League (ICL).

Former Pakistan captain Moin Khan, who played a vital role in convincing the players to participate in the ICL, is also leaving with them. Imran told Daily Times on Tuesday that he still wanted to represent Pakistan at international level but it all depended on the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

“It is always an honour to represent the country. But the circumstances and the selectors have forced me to join the ICL,” Imran said.

The left-handed batsman, who has played 27 Tests and 33 ODIs, said the ball was now in the PCB’s court. “They have to decide whether to consider those players who have opted for the ICL.” He said he would fulfill his commitment with the ICL as he had signed with them.

Taufiq, who has played 25 Tests and 19 ODIs, said it was the most difficult decision of his career to join the ICL. “But justice was not done with me despite performing well in the domestic circuit.

I had no choice but to join the league.” Former Test all-rounder Azhar Mahmood is also leaving for India on Thursday to play in the ICL. Former captain Inzamamul Haq, who is already in India, will join the league later this month.