Background
A bid was made by Zee Telefilms (part of Essel Group) to gain the telecast rights of the 2003 Cricket World Cup. Although this bid was the highest one, it could not be successful. Subhash Chandra of Zee Telefilms made another bid for telecast rights in 2004 and this led to a court battle that was inconclusive. For the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy, he made another bid but was again unsuccessful. So, he decided to form the Indian Cricket League. The business head of ICL and Zee’s Sports, Himanshu Mody said that as the cricket content was denied they had to create their own content. The Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) did not accept that ICL was a cricket league. The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) view towards ICL is that this is an issue that has to be sorted by BCCI. So, unless the BCCI acknowledges it the ICC also refuses to recognize the league.
Strategy of the ICL
The main intention of creating the ICL was to produce high quality players who possessed the killer instinct required to become champions. It was planned that these players should be capable of performing well within the pressures of international cricket and should transform India into a champion side. The league planned a 3D strategy for accomplishing its intentions. The first was Discovery which involved searching the best talents in the country. The second was Diligence which involved spiritual, emotional, mental and physical training. The third was Display which involved a competition where the fresh blood would exhibit their play along with the veterans of cricket.
Structure of the league
It was announced that every team would have a former international cricketer as coach. Each team would have two Indian, four international and eight upcoming domestic players. There was a plan to create cricket academies throughout India. The Board of Control of Cricket in India was told that it could select cricketers from the talent search of the ICL. In order to manage the ICL, only accountable, paid and professional people are to be hired. The board members of the ICL are former international cricketers like Tony Greig, Kapil Dev, Kiran More and Dean Jones.
Set-up plans
The Indian Cricket League was an ambitious cricket organization that declared that the winning team in its initial edition would get prize money of 1 million USD. This organization was set up with a billion dollar Indian rupees. The plan was that there would be six teams who would play Twenty20 cricket. In a span of three years, there would be 16 teams within the league and finally there would be 50-over matches. If these plans would materialize the ICL would become the richest professional league in the country.
Availability of players
As the ICL was unofficial, the national cricket boards of various countries advised their players not to join it. Due to this retired international players like Craig McMillan, Chris Cairns and Brian Lara signed up for the first edition. Some other players like Daryl Tuffey and Chris Read who had less chance of being included in the national team also joined the ICL.
Venues for matches
The matches of the ICL are held at Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Gurgaon, Mayajaal Cricket Ground in Chennai, Lal Bahadur Stadium in Hyderabad and Tau Devi Lal stadium in Panchkula, close to Chandigarh.