IPL News

Heath Mills, the executive manager of the New Zealand Cricket Players Association (NZCPA), has expressed disappointment at New Zealand Cricket’s (NZC) decision to terminate Shane Bond’s contract and called on the authorities to address the situation to avoid international cricket being devalued. He has also accused NZC of acting to appease the Indian board.

Mills said that Bond’s contract with NZC allowed him to play for third parties when his NZC commitments allowed, and that there were no restrictions on what events he could participate in. “Three months ago Bond sought and was granted consent by NZC to sign with the Indian Cricket League (ICL) in line with his playing contract,” Mills said. “Further to that Bond ensured his ICL contract released him for international duties if required.

“In this way his ICL contract did not affect his ability to play for New Zealand or impact on international cricket. NZC has become increasingly concerned at the implications should they select Bond, or any other player, to represent New Zealand if they are contracted to the ICL. These concerns principally relate to NZC’s relationship with the Indian board (BCCI) and perceived risks to future revenue streams should the BCCI take a stand against NZC given the ICL is not sanctioned by that organisation.”

NZC has also recently been made aware of an ICC operating manual regulation that purports to not allow them to release players to participate in non-sanctioned events. However, Mills said this regulation formed no part of the contracting arrangements with players and had never been communicated to them by the ICC or NZC.

“It has no application within the current player contracting arrangements between NZC, the NZCPA and the players. Attempting to retrospectively introduce and impose a regulation which amounts to a restraint of trade is simply unfair and inappropriate, and it compromises the freedom of contract that is preserved for our players under their agreements.

“The NZCPA fully understands the position NZC has found itself and we do not want them to damage relationships with the BCCI and other ICC members. However, pressure to preserve these relationships should not be placed above preserving New Zealand’s right to select its best players to represent the Black Caps, the rights and aspirations of New Zealand citizens to represent their country and the legal rights of players under their signed playing contracts.

“Given the issues Bond has decided to stand aside from international cricket at NZC’s request. The NZCPA supports this decision as it enables him to preserve a strong relationship with the board of NZC in the hope that he can again contribute to the game in New Zealand at some stage in the future. However, this is not a decision that he was compelled to make and under our contract system negotiated with NZC it remains open for any player to play for a third party like the ICL and still remain contracted to and play for NZC.

“It is this situation that leaves the NZCPA concerned for cricket in New Zealand. We urge the ICC to step in and attempt to influence this situation and find a way to manage third party investment in our sport before we lose more players both here and around the world, and international cricket has been damaged further. History has shown that professional sports cannot afford to become split. It is absolutely vital that international cricket remains the pinnacle of the sport and that we ensure the best players are playing.”

Sources said BCCI has shortlisted five cricketers ? Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh ? who will be called “icon players” and will be the highest paid players in the league. They will not be auctioned if they have a city team.

IPL chairman Lalit Modi confirmed, “This is one of the BCCI suggestions and it awaits the nod of the IPL board. The player bids will take place next month.” A top BCCI official added that regular members of the Indian team will probably make Rs 1.2 crore to Rs 2 crore from the 44-day event, with the icon players getting the highest amount.BCCI stands opposite ICL but I think it is making another ICL by stabling IPL with their activities

The BCCI stand came in the wake of media reports that star batsman Sachin Tendulkar was in talks for a joint bid with the Future Group, which has expressed interest in becoming a franchisee of the BCCI’s Twenty20 venture. However, the company itself maintained that reports about Tendulkar were mere speculation.

“He is playing, so where the question of buying a team comes from? When someone is playing, how can he buy a team?” BCCI Vice President Rajeev Shukla, who is also a member of the IPL Governing Council, told ‘Times Now’.

His views were shared by BCCI Joint Secretary MP Pandove who said, “Any player contracted with the Board can’t have stakes in participating teams.”Shukla told reporters at the BCCI briefing that the IPL had received overwhelming response from companies.

“We will first decide the media rights for the league before taking up the issue if franchise. All I can say is that we have received overwhelming response,” he said.

According to reports, industrialists Vijay Mallya and Anil Ambani were interested in buying franchise, as was Hollywood star Russell Crowe.Lalit Modi, BCCI Vice President and the mastermind behind the high-profile league, however, refused to comment on the issue.

“I have no comments to make on media reports. Whatever clarifications we have to issue will be done at a later stage,” Modi told PTI.

Future Group, which had sponsored the recent home series against Australia, confirmed that it was interested in buying one of the teams in the IPL but said reports of Tendulkar being a minority stakeholder were “purely speculative”.

“Yes, we are interested in sponsoring a team in the IPL. However, we have not spoken to anybody or firmed up our plans as yet since we are still unclear about the structure and the format of the league,” a Future Group spokesman said.

MUMBAI: The BCCI’s Indian Premier League team franchise rights winners have been announced.They are as follows: Mumbai has gone to Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries; Delhi to GMR Group; Kolkata to Bollywood badhsah Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment; Bangalore to Vijay Mallya’s UB Group; Hyderabad to Deccan Chronicle; Jaipur to Emerging Media; Chennai to India Cements; and Mohali to Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia.

A total of 14 bids came in the final list, of which three - ICICI Ventures, Kishore Biyani’s Future Group and Sahara Hospitality - were disqualified.The minimum bid price for the eight team franchises was $50 million but all the IPL bids were well over that with the highest being for Mumbai at $ 111.9 million.

GMR got Delhi for $ 84 million, Mumbai was won by Mukesh Ambani for $ 111.9 million, Chennai went for $ 91 million, Bangalore for $111.6 million, Mohali for $ 76 million, Jaipur for $ 67 million, Hyderabad for $107.01 million and Kolkata for $75.09 million.

Each Franchisee bid can own teams in any eight of the 12 cities that satisfy the eligibility criteria. The next step involves the players. The BCCI says that IPL has contracted the top 80 players according to the ICC rankings. The IPL player auction will be held next month and will allow each franchisee to bid for the Indian team and overseas players contracted by the IPL. A maximum of eight overseas players will be allowed per Franchisee.

Each franchisee has the right to market their team sponsorship rights. The franchisees, in consultation with IPL will finalise the appropriate names for the teams. Team names will be associated with the city or area they are based in. All teams will play one Home and one Away match against each of the other participating teams.

In addition to the marketing benefits that accrue to IPL Franchisees, each Franchisee will have a share of central revenues and local revenues. The franchisees will get 80 per cent of TV revenues in the first five years and 60 per cent from the next five. The franchisees will also get 60 per cent of sponsorship revenues. The BCCI adds that the franchisees will get all local revenues. These will come from many sources including gate revenues, franchisee shirt sponsorship, local sponsorship, licensing programme and uniform merchandising.

In terms of IPL sponsorships, the BCCI will look for a title sponsor, 4-6 Official Partner sponsorships, Umpire sponsorships and IPL Team Uniform supply.

The tournament will begin on 18 April. There will be 59 matches spread over 44 days, with two matches every Saturday and every Sunday The tournament will culminate with semi finals and the Grand Final, all played in one city over one weekend All matches will be played under floodlights which is television prime-time. In terms of production the BCCI says that four crews will cover the IPL using the latest equipment and standards.

In terms of marketing of the IPL it had sought presentations from world class advertising agencies for selection as its creative agency and then chose Ogilvy. Mindshare will be doing the media planning/buying.