<div style="border-right: #e5e5e5 0.75pt solid; padding-right: 0in; border-top: medium none; padding-left: 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; border-left: medium none; padding-top: 0in; border-bottom: medium none">
<p style="border-right: medium none; padding-right: 0in; border-top: medium none; padding-left: 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; border-left: medium none; padding-top: 0in; border-bottom: medium none; text-align: justify; mso-border-right-alt: solid #E5E5E5 .75pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in"><span style="font-family: Georgia"><font size="3">Zee Telefilm Chairman Mr. Subhash Chandra announced the announced a breakaway cricket series call the Indian Cricket League (ICL) on April 3<sup>rd</sup> 2007 with a kitty of US$ 23 million (100 Crore). It will run parallel cricket leagues and tournaments of Board of Control for Cricket in India. ICL will start up with 6 teams, which will be raised to 16 within a span of three year. Each team will comprise of four International Players, two Indian Player and eight budding domestic players. A former Indian Player will coach the team.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p style="border-right: medium none; padding-right: 0in; border-top: medium none; padding-left: 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; border-left: medium none; padding-top: 0in; border-bottom: medium none; text-align: justify; mso-border-right-alt: solid #E5E5E5 .75pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in"><span style="font-family: Georgia"><font size="3">Former international cricketers like Kapil Dev, Tony Greig, Dean Jones and Kiran More have been hired as board members of the Indian Cricket League. The board members will have paid positions. Some great international crickets like Brain Lara, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Stephen Fleming are likely to join ICL. Though the BCCI and Pakistan Cricket Board are threatening to ban players for lifetime, there has been keenness from many players to join ICL. Cricketers like Ricky Ponting feels that it will lure good cricketers in to early retirement to make money during their end of career.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p style="border-right: medium none; padding-right: 0in; border-top: medium none; padding-left: 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; border-left: medium none; padding-top: 0in; border-bottom: medium none; text-align: justify; mso-border-right-alt: solid #E5E5E5 .75pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in"><span style="font-family: Georgia"><font size="3">India’s poor performance in recent World Cup and the prior South African Tour has lead to question like can’t a nation with 1 billion pollution and about 1 million cricket players produce a reasonably competent team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>One of the answers, which gained wide acceptance, is that the cricket control body of Indian, BCCI has failed miserably in its job and needs a major overhaul in its working and organization. Millions of Indian Fans who hero-worshiped their cricket team are finding BCCI with its image already mired with scandals, favouritism and Political influence.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p style="border-right: medium none; padding-right: 0in; border-top: medium none; padding-left: 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; border-left: medium none; padding-top: 0in; border-bottom: medium none; text-align: justify; mso-border-right-alt: solid #E5E5E5 .75pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Georgia; mso-ansi-language: EN"><font size="3">Will this professionally managed league help the country to develop talent to the Indian Cricket or will it be only to provide lucrative sports programming of Essel Group for Zee Telefilms which lost out on the rights to broadcast all BCCI sanctioned cricket matches in India until 2011. In India cricket generates an advertising and subscription revenue of Rs. 1000 crore. Is this a treat to BCCI for losing that amount of money for which so many heavy weights including India’s top most Politicians are trying to control the body. It needs to be seen in the days to come how the newly formed ICL groom up against the BCCI or join hands for the betterment of Indian Cricket.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
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