Indian cricket has witnessed a disputed opinion on the Indian Cricket League (ICL) Twenty20 for quite some time now. There has been intense speculation on whether the ICL would turn into reality, with the BCCI opposing it and getting other cricket boards to oppose it too.
But despite everything, ICL kicks off on Friday, November 30, at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium here.
If cricket is all about cheering for the underdog, there hasn’t been an underdog like the ICL. From overseas stars to domestic recruits, from stars of yesteryears to some of the biggest names in Indian cricket history, people have braved bans to be here.
The first match pits the local team — Chandigarh Lions — against Delhi Jets. The prize money in the 17-day tournament is a whopping Rs 15 crore, and the team that finishes last also takes home Rs 85 lakh. The man of the match gets Rs 3.75 lakh per match.
Apart from the Chandigarh Lions and Delhi Jets, the teams participating are Kolkata Tigers, Chennai Superstars, Mumbai Champs and Hyderabad Heroes.
India’s captain of the 1983 World Cup winning team Kapil Dev, presently the Chairman of the ICL Board says: “The ICL is in a stage where one feels like that Test-match player who has butterflies in the stomach. But we have tried our best to get here. There have been several obstacles on the way, but we fought our way.”
This means there will be a lot at stake for the likes of Kapil Dev and other former India players like Ajit Wadekar, Erapalli Prasanna, Madan Lal, Sandeep Patil, Ashok Malhotra, Balwinder Sandhu, Rajesh Chauhan, who are associated with and support the ICL in some form or the other.
The focus of attention will be the legendary West Indian player Brian Lara who has landed here after much speculation, along with Inzamam ul-Haq, Craig McMillan, Chris Chairns, Nathan Astle, Stuart Law, Marvan Atapattu and the likes.
All the players promise to make this a cricket carnival. The opening ceremony on Friday evening is expected to have performances by Bollywood biggies like Kareena Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan and Aamir Khan.
A big screen has been installed for a more colourful ambience and it is reason enough that hardly any of the 7000 tickets are available for the opening day’s ceremony and match.
Pitted along with the India-Pakistan Test series, the organisers feel people will definitely watch the matches on TV as the ICL matches start at 6 pm, much after the day’s play in the Test would have ended.
The next couple of weeks will tell if the ICL can bring a new start?
Source : http://www.expressindia.com/
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