Wednesday, April 29, 2009

A tale of three T20 cricket leagues: ICL, IPL, and the APL

The BCCI has all of a sudden announced an amnesty for the ICL players from India, thereby opening the way for other cricket boards to do the same. This is a very interesting move since the BCCI does not do anything unless it sees money in it. Does the fact the ICL is in the process of morphing into the American Premier League (APL), courtesy of a Mr. Jay Mir alarm the IPL (i.e., the BCCI)? Reports indicate that a huge fraction of the ICL players have signed on to the APL, which can be a potential money spinner since it can bring T20 cricket to the U.S. The US cricket association itself was a fractured group for quite a while and besides its a free country here. Unless BCCI offers some sops to us here, the APL may come to stay. U.S passion for security means that ICL players will feel much more comfortable playing here than in India (sadly).

While its possible that a wolf has turned into a lamb, it will not be unsurprising if change of heart is in fact related to the APL, and if so, the BCCI deserves to sweat it out, given the high-handed vengeful way in which decent cricketing folks associated with the ICL were shunned over the world. Perhaps its payback time, and it will be interesting to see how the ICC, and the BCCI sort this mess out.

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