IPL copycats

Chances are, you haven’t heard these names if you stay outside their states. But Brigade Enterprises, Melmont Constructions, Fiza Developers and a few other companies and individuals expect to change the way you think about them as they seek to propel mofussil cricket into the big league.

Raigad Royals players lifting the MPL 2009 trophy

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Their inspiration is the huge commercial success of the Indian Premier League (IPL)—the cash flows it offered players, the mileage it gave team owners and the crowds the Twenty20 format attracted.

Big money is a secondary concern as the IPL’s success spawns similar leagues on a smaller scale, with the cricket bodies of Karnataka and Maharashtra cobbling together IPL-like tournaments that have attracted a new breed of franchise owners. Even districts and towns have joined the rush. Andhra Pradesh’s Karimnagar district has launched its version; so have Ranchi Municipal Corporation and Ranchi District Cricket Association in Jharkhand.

The excitement is typified by former India player Sunil Joshi, 38, who hails from the small town of Gadag and turns out for Karnataka. After the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) auctioned off players in Bangalore on August 14, Joshi, who was picked up for Rs 2.05 lakh by the Hubli-Dharwad team, said: “It’s a step ahead for rural players, many of whom never had an opportunity to show their talent to a larger audience.”

From September 9, Bangalore's Chinnaswamy stadium is expected to draw capacity crowds of 50-60,000 as eight teams battle for the spoils (Rs 20 lakh in prize money) in the Karnataka Premier League (KPL), being organised by the KSCA.

The enthusiasm is not dampened by the Board of Control for Cricket in India's refusal to release national players for the KPL. But Joshi says: “It will give an opportunity to 24 new faces in the KPL stream.”

The Poor Cousins
The KSCA, however, is not the first to have launched a 20-20 league of their own. The Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) has already done it, roping in the Sakaal Media group for the Maharashtra Premier League (MPL) in April-May this year. The MPL, with a prize money of Rs 10 lakh, had eight franchisees who played a total of 31 matches in 14 days. But the player of the tournament had to be content with two wheels, not four: a Yamaha motorcycle. The total cost of organising and playing the games was a measly Rs 1 crore.

Just as in the IPL, the MCA teams, too, have catchy names—Devgiri Emperors, Sinhagad Supremos, Sindhudurg Sailors and Torna Tigers. But, unlike the IPL’s mish-mash, no players from other states played in either league. Also, the players in the local leagues have three-year contracts and a franchisee owner has to buy all the 14 players within a budget of Rs 6 lakh.

This kept player bids at reasonable levels, compared with the bankruptcy-inviting numbers at the IPL, where the likes of Kevin Pietersen were bought for a record Rs 7.5 crore. So, Aditya Dole, the first player to be auctioned by the MCA, was bought for Rs 65,000 by Pratapgad Warriors. Ameya Shrikhande, Vishal Bhulare and Sangram Atitkar were bought for Rs 1 lakh each. The MPL had its stars: 10 players fetched over a lakh each.

In Bangalore, the KSCA player auctions on August 14 saw pots of money change hands: Three players were picked up for over Rs 3 lakh each, five for over Rs 2 lakh and two for close to Rs 2 lakh.

Sowing a Good Crop
If the auctioning of players led to excitement then the team ownership auctions were a heady affair, too. K. Jayaprakash Hegde, a former Karnataka minister, along with four friends, won the ownership of the Malnad Gladiators team at the auctions for the KPL. The KSCA is organising the tournament in association with the Frontiers Group India, a sports management firm.

Hegde’s team will get players from Shimoga, Chikmagalur and Hassan districts. “We have decided to promote only Karnataka players, including those who played in mofussil areas. Our idea is not to use this initiative as a business opportunity, but put whatever money we can earn back into developing the game,” says Hegde.

Neither Hegde nor any of his friends are corporate czars. Between them, they run small restaurants and SSIs. “Each one of us comes from a middle class family and wants to reinvent cricket in our districts,” says Hegde, whose 20-year-old son Nishant played for the state under-15 team.

Brijesh Patel, Secretary, KSCA, echoes Hedge. “We are doing this to help improve the infrastructure in the rural areas and also give exposure to players. It is a good opportunity for these boys to play under lights with the white ball and deliver under pressure,” says Patel. He says the KSCA has made no estimates of revenues and all that is earned will be used to develop the game in districts.

Harish M.S., a small-scale industrialist from Bangalore who is among the owners of the Shimoga team (Malnad Gladiators), says: “We have already identified very good players from villages to be part of our team.”'

Boom or Bust?
The tournaments have also captured the imagination of fans. “It is a big boost for Karnataka cricket. The KPL will force all franchisees to promote the game in their zones to unearth talent. This will trigger competition among the franchisees, which will ultimately be to the benefit of Karnataka cricket,” says Vedam Jaishankar, a cricket analyst and author of Casting a Spell—the Story of Karnataka Cricket, which traces the 200-year history of cricket in Karnataka.

He thinks many states in India will also follow this model for development of cricket. “An entire new industry will grow around this,” he says.

But some veteran cricketers like Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath are not so enthusiastic about using the IPL format to promote cricket at the grassroots. Kumble, who led the Bangalore Royal Challengers during their successful run in the second edition of the IPL, says the KSCA should organise the KPL on its own without private team franchises.

He says the KSCA could use the annual BCCI grants to promote KPL, instead of adopting the franchisee model.

Srinath has fears of a different sort: “You must orient the kids towards the longer version and then introduce the T20. Don’t make these kids professional T20 players at the age of 17,” he says.