Rebel cricket league idea not worrying Indian administrators
What's the story
Reports indicate that Billionaire Subhash Chandra (Essel Group Chairman) is contemplating setting up a rival cricket system. Essel group's last experiment of launching a T20 league, Indian Cricket League (ICL), failed miserably. The group couldn't manage to pay the outstanding salaries of a number of players after the ICL shut down.
3 Apr 2007
ZEE telefilms plan rebel cricket league in India
ZEE telefilms say that 6 teams will take part in the $1 million rebel cricket league, ICL, between July-August. Subhash Chandra didn't reveal the names of the players who have signed up. Chandra plans to expand it to 50 over format in the coming years. Announcement comes two weeks after India was knocked out of the World Cup in the first round.
Do you know?
Did you know?
ICL is a reminiscent of the World Series Cricket started by Australian media tycoon Kerry Packer in the 1970s. It signed players such as Imran Khan, Greg Chappell and Tony Greig.
24 Oct 2007
BCCI bans ICL players
BCCI bans ICL signed players from representing the country. BCCI launches its own $3 million Indian Premier League with support from other national cricket boards and International Cricket Council. ICL has Kapil Dev as the Chief Executive while IPL has Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shashtri as members of governing council. ICL has managed to sign retired players like Brian Lara.
20 Nov 2008
ICL make take ICC to the court
ICL is planning to legally sue the ICC if the latter doesn't interfere in the BCCI's proceedings against the rebel league. ICL is thinking of filing a case against the ICC in the London High Court. BCCI sees the ICL as a direct competitor to its newly launched money spinner, Indian Premier League .
29 Apr 2009
BCCI removes ban on ICL players
BCCI agreed to lift the ban from ICL players if they smash their ties with the rebel league. The players won't be given any international assignments for 1 year after exiting ICL but can play domestic cricket immediately. Essel Group didn't go ahead with the 2009 edition of ICL due to Mumbai terror attacks, citing security concerns.
2 May 2015
ICC to investigate new Essel group companies
ICC is fearful that Essel group's plan to launch a rebel league might split the game. Reports indicated that Essel group tried to register a company "Australian Cricket Control Pty Ltd" in Australia and made similar attempts in other test playing nations. It recently announced that it is "geared up to enter the sports business at a global level, focusing on cricket".