Rebel cricket league idea not worrying Indian administrators
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 .
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.
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".
