History of the Indian Premier League - IPL
The Indian Premier League started in all places, with an idea born in Wimbledon London the home of Lawn Tennis.
It was June 2007 during a break in the tennis at Wimbledon (due to the usual English rain.) that Lalit Modi Vice-President of the Board of Cricket Control for India was having a conversation with Andrew Wildblood of the International Management Group (IMG), a company synonymous with sports management.
Lalit Modi having studied in America was impressed with the sports franchises which were common in the USA. He had a vision that he hoped would revolutionise the Indian Domestic Game. He needed Wildblood's input on the possibilities of creating a Twenty20 Cricket League based on the American model.
Wildblood was more than enthusiastic he revealed to Modi that they had been kicking a similar idea around their offices for sometime. He advised Modi that with the BCCI resolve and IMG's expertise a way could be found. A further meeting was called in London and a decision was made to turn the vision into a reality for the 2008 Cricket season.
The Timescale was absurd if not impossible but Modi and Wildblood are two men who thrive on the impossible they knew that it was a race against time and they set about it with grim determination.
If you look at how most sports league begin and mature you start to understand the difficulties faced by these two men. It is to their credit that in less than nine months the DLF Indian Premier League became a reality. What is even more amazing is not only has it been formed but the franchise's were sold for a colossal US $723.6 million. Wildblood realised from the beginning that the sporting model and it's fundementals had to be spot on. It was decided that the basis of the league would be eight teams playing each other home and away with semi-finals and final, and from that the commercial model and therefore the investor context, could be built.
September 2007 brought that element of good fortune that all new ventures need that was the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 which was held in South Africa, India won beating arch rivals Pakistan in the final the event was a success and it captivated the Indian public. Suddenly the short game was being viewed in a totally different light and the Indian Cricket public in one poll were 76 percent in favour, saying it was how they preferred their cricket.
The franchise tender process began in December 07 and on 24 January 08 came the deadline for the bids to be received. Wildblood was in Mumbai when the bids came in they hoped that the Mumbai franchise would sell for over one hundred million dollars and it did.
Among the bidders were some of India’s richest and most powerful names, from industrialists to film stars, which has only added to the event’s lustre.
February 2008 saw the frantic player auction, something that has never been witnessed in cricket before as the game’s top stars commanded sums that would have been unthinkable for any cricketer a few years previously.
The player auction created a media frenzy.
The start date was set at April 18 in Bangalore. One of the newest and most exciting forms of cricket had been set up in less than a year and it didn't disappoint.
IPL Cricket News
After a thrilling campaign with many ups and downs Deccan Chargers picked themselves up and progressed through the semi finals to face Royal Challengers Bangalore in a thrilling final. Deccan supporters were ecstatic when their team ran out winners by 6 runs. The display by this fine team which was led by an inspired Captain in Adam Gilchrist, was verging on the brilliant, having failed to score a below par 143 in their innings they then went out and stopped Bangalore from scoring more than them. One has to feel sorry for a brilliant Bangalore team who frankly didn't deserve to lose. But that just highlights the thrilling contest that Indian Premier league cricket has become. Can't wait for next year.
