Zee Cricket League

Nikema · April 3, 2007, 5:54pm

Re: Zee Cricket League

I think if this project is executed properly it will go a long way in instilling the killer instinct in Indian players which they are lacking right now. Zee has exhibited a true entrepreneurial spirit by seizing upon this huge window of opportunity in a timely manner. In many ways, it reminds me of infamous kerry packer’s world series cricket but of course the packer series was on a much larger scale.

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/india/content/current/story/288641.html

Essel Group comes up with a new initiative
Business mogul announces break-away cricket league
Cricinfo staff
April 3, 2007
Subhash Chandra, who heads the Essel Group, owners of the Zee brand, has announced a breakaway cricket series called the Indian Cricket League (ICL). The Essel Group will invest Rs 100 crore (US$ 23 million approx) in the project, which will run parallel to the leagues and tournaments of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
The ICL will have six teams with two Indian internationals, four overseas players and eight juniors in each side, though Chandra didn’t name those players, if any, who’d already signed up. At the end of the third year, there will be 16 teams in the ICL. Chandra, while announcing this initiative in Delhi, said this initiative was not in conflict with the BCCI but would be complementary to them.
Stating that the Indian board’s selection process has failed to create “a reserve pipeline of players”, Chandra added that the idea behind the league is to create an “ideal pool with killing instinct”. The BCCI, he said, would be free to draw from the talent pool.
“We feel that despite cricket being a passion, a religion in this country and despite it having great commercial players, BCCI has only six A-grade players signed up,” he said. “Therefore, there is need for some united effort to create a talent pool. And this will be done by a three pronged strategy -discovery, diligence and display.”
To achieve its objectives, Zee plans to set up cricket academies equipped with state-of-the-art facilities across the country. Sports medicine would be introduced to ensure players’ fitness and a full-fledged record maintained of their behaviour pattern, diet-plan and game statistics. The group will also appoint talent scouts in all 35 states to hunt for young players to play in the ICL.

The finer points of ICL:

6 teams or clubs to play in the opening year

Talks on with BCCI for gaining access to stadiums

Executive Board of the league under installation

Pool of referees and umpires to be created

Rules committee to form regulations for ICL

Ombudsman to look into grievances of players

League to begin with Twenty20 format and move to ODI format

League to be a joint venture between Essel Group and ILFS Group

Each team to have a mentor, media manager, psychologist, physio

Prize money for the winner- US$ 1 million

League teams to compete with teams internationally

Number of teams to be increased from 6 to 16 in three years

© Cricinfo

Will Not Work as Indian players, media, people who are organizing it are/will be too much concerned with $$, so at the end of the day this will do nothing for benifit of cricket in India. Some people will make alot of money though