Page 19 - IPL1

T
he Indian Premier League was launched on

September 13, 2007 in New Delhi under the auspices
of the BCCI office bearers, Ray Mali, President of the

ICC, James Sutherland, CEO of Cricket Australia, Gerald
Majola, CEO of Cricket South Africa and Nasim Ashraf,
President of the Pakistan Cricket Board.

When the idea of creating an Indian Premier League

was first mooted, everyone was convinced that the
chosen format needed a system that could be easily
customised to the unique needs of the game in cricket

loving India. Twenty20 was the clear choice.

The concept would revolve around eight teams in eight

cities. Of the eight teams, five of them would have an
icon player who hailed from that city. Sachin Tendulkar
for Mumbai, Yuvraj Singh for Mohali, Rahul Dravid

for Bangalore, Virender Sehwag for Delhi and Sourav
Ganguly for Kolkatta.

To further boost Indian domestic cricket, it was also
decided that at any given time, only four international

players could be on the field during any given match.
While some reacted with a bit of scepticism, it worked
wonders for the game overall. Today, everyone knows

of the exploits of Swapnil Asnodkar, Subramaniam
Badrinath and Manpreet Goni

Twenty20 has been a massive success wherever it has
been played. In countries like England and South Africa,

it is credited with revitalizing the sport at a domestic
level. This was key as the principle foundation stone of
IPL is that it is for the development of Indian domestic

cricket. India’s win in the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 in
South Africa created an instant love for the new format

as it was fast paced, exciting, glamorous and colourful
– all the brand values that epitomise modern India.

More importantly, it was an opportunity for

international players and India’s best to come together,
putting aside national team differences and even

personal differences in the interest of the game.

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