Origin

No one knows when or where cricket began but there is a body of evidence, much of it circumstantial, that strongly
suggests the game was devised during Saxon or Norman times by children living in the Weald, an area of dense
woodlands and clearings in south-east England that lies across Kent and Sussex. It is generally believed that cricket
survived as a children's game for many generations before it was increasingly taken up by adults around the
beginning of the 17th century. Possibly cricket was derived from bowls, assuming bowls is the older sport, by the
intervention of a batsman trying to stop the ball from reaching its target by hitting it away. Playing on sheep-grazed
land or in clearings, the original implements may have been a matted lump of sheeps wool (or even a stone or a
small lump of wood) as the ball; a stick or a crook or another farm tool as the bat; and a stool or a tree stump or a
gate (e.g., a wicket gate) as the wicket.

Derivation of the name of "cricket"

A number of words are thought to be possible sources for the term "cricket". In the earliest known reference to the
sport in 1598 (see below), it is called creckett. The name may have been derived from the Middle Dutch krick(-e),
meaning a stick; or the Old English cricc or cryce meaning a crutch or staff. Another possible source is the Middle
Dutch word krickstoel, meaning a long low stool used for kneeling in church and which resembled the long
low wicket with two stumps used in early cricket.
According to Heiner Gillmeister, a European language expert of Bonn University, "cricket" derives from the Middle
Dutch met de (krik ket)sen (i.e., "with the stick chase"), which also suggests a Dutch connection in the game's
origin. It is more likely that the terminology of cricket was based on words in use in south east England at the time
and, given trade connections with the County of Flanders, especially in the 15th century when it belonged to
the Duchy of Burgundy, many Middle Dutch words found their way into southern English dialects.

First definite reference

John Derrick was a pupil at The Royal Grammar School in Guildford when he and his friends played creckett circa 1550

Despite many prior suggested references, the first definite mention of the game is found in a 1598 court case
concerning an ownership dispute over a plot of common land in Guildford, Surrey. A 59-year old coroner, John
Derrick, testified that he and his school friends had played creckett on the site fifty years earlier when they attended
the Free School. Derrick's account proves beyond reasonable doubt that the game was being played in Surrey circa
1550.

The first reference to cricket being played as an adult sport was in 1611, when two men in Sussex were prosecuted
for playing cricket on Sunday instead of going to church. In the same year, a dictionary defined cricket as a boys'
game and this suggests that adult participation was a recent development.

Early 17th century

A number of references occur up to the English Civil War and these indicate that cricket had become an adult game
contested by parish teams, but there is no evidence of county strength teams at this time. Equally, there is little
evidence of the rampant gambling that characterised the game throughout the 18th century. It is generally believed,
therefore, that village cricket had developed by the middle of the 17th century but that county cricket had not and
that investment in the game had not begun.

The Commonwealth
After the Civil War ended in 1648, the new Puritan government clamped down on "unlawful assemblies", in
particular the more raucous sports such as football. Their laws also demanded a stricter observance of the Sabbath
than there had been previously. As the Sabbath was the only free time available to the lower classes, cricket's
popularity may have waned during the Commonwealth. Having said that it did flourish in public fee-paying schools
such as Winchester and St Paul's. There is no actual evidence that Oliver Cromwell's regime banned cricket
specifically and there are references to it during the interregnum that suggest it was acceptable to the authorities
provided that it did not cause any "breach of the Sabbath". It is believed that the nobility in general adopted cricket
at this time through involvement in village games.

Gambling and press coverage

Cricket certainly thrived after the Restoration in 1660 and is believed to have first attracted gamblers making large
bets at this time. In 1664, the "Cavalier" Parliament passed the Gaming Act 1664 which limited stakes to 100,
although that was still a fortune at the time, equivalent to about 13 thousand in present day terms. Cricket had
certainly become a significant gambling sport by the end of the 17th century. There is a newspaper report of a "great
match" played in Sussex in 1697 which was 11-a-side and played for high stakes of 50 guineas a side.
With freedom of the press having been granted in 1696, cricket for the first time could be reported in the
newspapers. But it was a long time before the newspaper industry adapted sufficiently to provide frequent, let alone
comprehensive, coverage of the game. During the first half of the 18th century, press reports tended to focus on the
betting rather than on the play.

18th-century cricket
1697 to 1725 English cricket seasons and Overview of English cricket 17261815

Patronage and players

Gambling introduced the first patrons because some of the gamblers decided to strengthen their bets by forming
their own teams and it is believed the first "county teams" were formed in the aftermath of the Restoration in 1660,
especially as members of the nobility were employing "local experts" from village cricket as the earliest
professionals. The first known game in which the teams use county names is in 1709 but there can be little doubt
that these sort of fixtures were being arranged long before that. The match in 1697 was probably Sussex versus
another county.
The most notable of the early patrons were a group of aristocrats and businessmen who were active from about
1725, which is the time that press coverage became more regular, perhaps as a result of the patrons' influence.

These men included the 2nd Duke of Richmond, Sir William Gage, Alan Brodrick and Edward Stead. For the first
time, the press mentions individual players like Thomas Waymark.

Cricket moves out of England

Cricket was introduced to North America via the English colonies in the 17th century, probably before it had even
reached the north of England. In the 18th century it arrived in other parts of the globe. It was introduced to the West
Indies by colonists and to India by British East India Company mariners in the first half of the century. It arrived in
Australia almost as soon as colonisation began in 1788. New Zealand and South Africa followed in the early years
of the 19th century.
Cricket never caught on in Canada, despite efforts by an imperial-minded elite to promote the game as a way of
identifying with the British Empire. Canada, unlike Australia and the West Indies, witnessed a continual decline in
the popularity of the game during 18601960. Linked to upper class British-Canadian elites, the game never
became popular with the general public. In the summer season it had to compete with baseball. During the First
World War, Canadian units stationed in Britain played baseball, not cricket.

Development of the Laws

Laws of Cricket
The basic rules of cricket such as bat and ball, the wicket, pitch dimensions, overs, how out, etc. have existed since
time immemorial. In 1728, the Duke of Richmond and Alan Brodick drew up Articles of Agreement to determine the
code of practice in a particular game and this became a common feature, especially around payment of stake
money and distributing the winnings given the importance of gambling.
In 1744, the Laws of Cricket were codified for the first time and then amended in 1774, when innovations such as
lbw, middle stump and maximum bat width were added. These laws stated that the principals shall choose from
amongst the gentlemen present two umpires who shall absolutely decide all disputes. The codes were drawn up by
the so-called "Star and Garter Club" whose members ultimately foundedMCC at Lord's in 1787. MCC immediately
became the custodian of the Laws and has made periodic revisions and recodifications subsequently.

Continued growth in England

The game continued to spread throughout England and, in 1751, Yorkshire is first mentioned as a venue. The
original form of bowling (i.e., rolling the ball along the ground as in bowls) was superseded sometime after 1760
when bowlers began to pitch the ball and study variations in line, length and pace. Scorecards began to be kept on
a regular basis from 1772 and since then an increasingly clear picture has emerged of the sport's development.

An artwork depicting the history of the cricket bat

The first famous clubs were London and Dartford in the early 18th century. London played its matches on
the Artillery Ground, which still exists. Others followed, particularly Slindon in Sussex which was backed by the
Duke of Richmond and featured the star player Richard Newland. There were other prominent clubs at Maidenhead,
Hornchurch, Maidstone, Sevenoaks, Bromley, Addington, Hadlow and Chertsey.
But far and away the most famous of the early clubs was Hambledon in Hampshire. It started as a parish
organisation that first achieved prominence in 1756. The club itself was founded in the 1760s and was well
patronised to the extent that it was the focal point of the game for about thirty years until the formation of MCC and
the opening of Lord's Cricket Ground in 1787. Hambledon produced several outstanding players including the
master batsman John Small and the first great fast bowler Thomas Brett. Their most notable opponent was the
Chertsey and Surrey bowler Edward "Lumpy" Stevens, who is believed to have been the main proponent of the
flighted delivery.
It was in answer to the flighted, or pitched, delivery that the straight bat was introduced. The old "hockey stick" style
of bat was only really effective against the ball being trundled or skimmed along the ground.

Cricket and crisis

Cricket faced its first real crisis during the 18th century when major matches virtually ceased during the Seven Years
War. This was largely due to shortage of players and lack of investment. But the game survived and the
"Hambledon Era" proper began in the mid-1760s.
Cricket faced another major crisis at the beginning of the 19th century when a cessation of major matches occurred
during the culminating period of the Napoleonic Wars. Again, the causes were shortage of players and lack of
investment. But, as in the 1760s, the game survived and a slow recovery began in 1815.
On 17 June 1815, on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo British soldiers played a cricket match in the Bois de la
Cambre park in Brussels. Ever since the park area where that match took place has been called La Pelouse des
Anglais (the Englishmen's lawn).
MCC was itself the centre of controversy in the Regency period, largely on account of the enmity between Lord
Frederick Beauclerk and George Osbaldeston. In 1817, their intrigues and jealousies exploded into a match-fixing
scandal with the top player William Lambert being banned from playing at Lord's Cricket Ground for life. Gambling
scandals in cricket have been going on since the 17th century.
In the 1820s, cricket faced a major crisis of its own making as the campaign to allow roundarm bowling gathered
pace.

19th-century cricket
Main article: Overview of English cricket from 1816 to 1863

View of Geneva's Plaine de Plainpalais with cricketers, 1817

The game also underwent a fundamental change of organisation with the formation for the first time of county clubs.
All the modern county clubs, starting with Sussex in 1839, were founded during the 19th century.

A cricket match at Darnall, Sheffield in the 1820s.

No sooner had the first county clubs established themselves than they faced what amounted to "player action"
as William Clarke created the travelling All-England Eleven In 1846. Though a commercial venture, this team did
much to popularize the game in districts which had never previously been visited by high-class cricketers. Other
similar teams were created and this vogue lasted for about thirty years. But the counties and MCC prevailed.
The growth of cricket in the mid and late 19th century was assisted by the development of the railway network. For
the first time, teams from a long distance apart could play one other without a prohibitively time-consuming journey.
Spectators could travel longer distances to matches, increasing the size of crowds.
In 1864, another bowling revolution resulted in the legalisation of overarm and in the same year Wisden Cricketers'
Almanack was first published.
The "Great Cricketer", W G Grace, made his first-class debut in 1865. His feats did much to increase the game's
popularity and he introduced technical innovations which revolutionised the game, particularly in batting.

International cricket begins

The first ever international cricket game was between the USA and Canada in 1844. The match was played at the
grounds of the St George's Cricket Club in New York.

The English team 1859 on their way to the USA

In 1859, a team of leading English professionals set off to North America on the first-ever overseas tour and, in
1862, the first English team toured Australia.

Between May and October 1868, a team of Australian Aborigines toured England in what was the first Australian
cricket team to travel overseas.

The first Australian touring team (1878) pictured at Niagara Falls

In 1877, an England touring team in Australia played two matches against full Australian XIs that are now regarded
as the inaugural Test matches. The following year, the Australians toured England for the first time and were a
spectacular success. No Tests were played on that tour but more soon followed and, at The Oval in 1882, arguably
the most famous match of all time gave rise to The Ashes. South Africa became the third Test nation in 1889.

National championships
A major watershed occurred in 1890 when the official County Championship was constituted in England. This
organisational initiative has been repeated in other countries. Australia established the Sheffield Shield in 189293.
Other national competitions to be established were the Currie Cup in South Africa, the Plunkett Shield in New
Zealand and the Ranji Trophy in India.
The period from 1890 to the outbreak of the First World War has become an object of nostalgia, ostensibly because
the teams played cricket according to "the spirit of the game", but more realistically because it was a peacetime
period that was shattered by the First World War. The era has been called The Golden Age of cricket and it featured
numerous great names such as Grace, Wilfred Rhodes, C B Fry, K S Ranjitsinhji and Victor Trumper.

Balls per over

In 1889 the immemorial four ball over was replaced by a five ball over and then this was changed to the current six
balls an over in 1900. Subsequently, some countries experimented with eight balls an over. In 1922, the number of
balls per over was changed from six to eight in Australia only. In 1924 the eight ball over was extended to New
Zealand and in 1937 to South Africa. In England, the eight ball over was adopted experimentally for the 1939
season; the intention was to continue the experiment in 1940, but first-class cricket was suspended for the Second
World War and when it resumed, English cricket reverted to the six ball over. The 1947 Laws of Cricket allowed six
or eight balls depending on the conditions of play. Since the 1979/80 Australian and New Zealand seasons, the six
ball over has been used worldwide and the most recent version of the Laws in 2000 only permits six ball overs.

20th-century cricket
Growth of Test cricket

Sid Barnes, traps Lala Amarnath lbw in the first official Test between Australia and India at the MCG in 1948

When the Imperial Cricket Conference (as it was originally called) was founded in 1909, only England, Australia and
South Africa were members. India, West Indies andNew Zealand became Test nations before the Second World
War and Pakistan soon afterwards. The international game grew with several "affiliate nations" getting involved and,
in the closing years of the 20th century, three of those became Test nations also: Sri
Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.
Test cricket remained the sport's highest level of standard throughout the 20th century but it had its problems,
notably in the infamous "Bodyline Series" of 193233 whenDouglas Jardine's England used so-called "leg theory" to
try and neutralise the run-scoring brilliance of Australia's Don Bradman.

Suspension of South Africa (197091)

See also: International cricket in South Africa from 1971 to 1981
The greatest crisis to hit international cricket was brought about by apartheid, the South African policy of racial
segregation. The situation began to crystallise after 1961 when South Africa left the Commonwealth of Nations and
so, under the rules of the day, its cricket board had to leave the International Cricket Conference (ICC). Cricket's
opposition to apartheid intensified in 1968 with the cancellation of England's tour to South Africa by the South
African authorities, due to the inclusion of "coloured" cricketer Basil D'Oliveira in the England team. In 1970, the ICC
members voted to suspend South Africa indefinitely from international cricket competition. Ironically, the South
African team at that time was probably the strongest in the world.
Starved of top-level competition for its best players, the South African Cricket Board began funding so-called "rebel
tours", offering large sums of money for international players to form teams and tour South Africa. The ICC's
response was to blacklist any rebel players who agreed to tour South Africa, banning them from officially sanctioned
international cricket. As players were poorly remunerated during the 1970s, several accepted the offer to tour South
Africa, particularly players getting towards the end of their careers for which a blacklisting would have little effect.
The rebel tours continued into the 1980s but then progress was made in South African politics and it became clear
that apartheid was ending. South Africa, now a "Rainbow Nation" under Nelson Mandela, was welcomed back into
international sport in 1991.

World Series Cricket

See also: World Series Cricket
The money problems of top cricketers were also the root cause of another cricketing crisis that arose in 1977 when
the Australian media magnate Kerry Packer fell out with the Australian Cricket Board over TV rights. Taking
advantage of the low remuneration paid to players, Packer retaliated by signing several of the best players in the
world to a privately run cricket league outside the structure of international cricket. World Series Cricket hired some
of the banned South African players and allowed them to show off their skills in an international arena against other

world-class players. The schism lasted only until 1979 and the "rebel" players were allowed back into established
international cricket, though many found that their national teams had moved on without them. Long-term results of
World Series Cricket have included the introduction of significantly higher player salaries and innovations such as
coloured kit and night games.

Limited-overs cricket
In the 1960s, English county teams began playing a version of cricket with games of only one innings each and a
maximum number of overs per innings. Starting in 1963 as a knockout competition only, limited overs grew in
popularity and in 1969 a national league was created which consequently caused a reduction in the number of
matches in the County Championship.
Although many "traditional" cricket fans objected to the shorter form of the game, limited overs cricket did have the
advantage of delivering a result to spectators within a single day; it did improve cricket's appeal to younger or busier
people; and it did prove commercially successful.
The first limited overs international match took place at Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1971 as a time-filler after a
Test match had been abandoned because of heavy rain on the opening days. It was tried simply as an experiment
and to give the players some exercise, but turned out to be immensely popular. Limited overs internationals (LOIs or
ODIs, after one-day Internationals) have since grown to become a massively popular form of the game, especially
for busy people who want to be able to see a whole match. The International Cricket Council reacted to this
development by organising the first Cricket World Cupin England in 1975, with all the Test playing nations taking
part.

Increasing use of technology

Limited overs cricket increased television ratings for cricket coverage. Innovative techniques that were originally
introduced for coverage of LOI matches were soon adopted for Test coverage. The innovations included
presentation of in-depth statistics and graphical analysis, placing miniature cameras in the stumps, multiple usage
of cameras to provide shots from several locations around the ground, high speed photography and computer
graphics technology enabling television viewers to study the course of a delivery and help them understand an
umpire's decision.
In 1992, the use of a third umpire to adjudicate runout appeals with television replays was introduced in the Test
series between South Africa and India. The third umpire's duties have subsequently expanded to include decisions
on other aspects of play such as stumpings, catches and boundaries. As yet, the third umpire is not called upon to
adjudicate lbw appeals, although there is a virtual reality tracking technology (i.e., Hawk-Eye) that is approaching
perfection in predicting the course of a delivery.

21st-century cricket
Cricket remains a major world sport in terms of participants, spectators and media interest.
The ICC has expanded its development programme with the goal of producing more national teams capable of
competing at Test level. Development efforts are focused on African and Asian nations; and on theUnited States. In
2004, the ICC Intercontinental Cup brought first-class cricket to 12 nations, mostly for the first time.
In June 2001, the ICC introduced a "Test Championship Table" and, in October 2002, a "One-day International
Championship Table". Australia has consistently topped both these tables in the 2000s.

Cricket's newest innovation is Twenty20, essentially an evening entertainment. It has so far enjoyed enormous
popularity and has attracted large attendances at matches as well as good TV audience ratings. The inaugural ICC
Twenty20 World Cup tournament was held in 2007 with a follow-up event in 2009. The formation of Twenty20
leagues in India the unofficial Indian Cricket League, which started in 2007, and the official Indian Premier
League, starting in 2008 raised much speculation in the cricketing press about their effect on the future of cricket

Ads

WoW ! 10 second Ad costs Rs. 35

Lakh for Cricket World Cup
Matches
As per the current estimates, if an advertiser wants his ad to be shown in both SemiFinals and Finals, the price is about Rs. 35 lakh for 10 seconds slot. If a single 10
second ad has to broadcast in both semi-finals, the pricing stands at 22 Lakh per 10
seconds. And, if it is for India Pakistan semi-final alone, the price stands at 18 lakh for
10 seconds
But the question is whether it is worth? According to me, if an advertiser is willing to pay
that kind of money, I am sure it is. What better platform to announce a launch of a new
product or even simply to spread brand awareness to millions of viewers. Literally, every
2nd Indian will have his eyes glued to the TV during the India Pakistan clash.
However, I have always had this question in my mind During such high adrenaline
games, does anyone even see or remember anything else other than the actual sport ? I
tried thinking about any ad that I remember during the matches and I could not
recollect any, except probably zoozoo Ads, and that too because zoozoo ads are very
creative and you enjoy seeing them.

OMG! Its a modern day slave auction! Hardworking athletes, heroes of their nations, drawn into a hideous human
cattle market, suffering the supreme humiliation of having a price put on their talent. What is the world coming to?
Except, of course, these so-called slaves get paid a lot of money ($42 million for 78 players), willingly signed the
contracts (and in the case of Australia, leaned on their cricket board to allow them to sign on) and will now play
games that will generate a ton of cash for themselves and their owners. Um my heart weeps for them?
On the other hand what! Rich people getting richer? Were all getting taken for a ride, I tell you! Sport should be
free it belongs to all of us! It is an honor to play for the nation and for our enjoyment; why do they need to get paid
more than an allowance? After all, we dont give our children money to play, do we? Okay, fine well throw them a
birthday party once a year too. And maybe buy them a doll to play with. A fake one, that is, not Deepika Padukone.
And just look at the people whove bought the teams! Filthy capitalists and dancing movie stars with six-pack abs
and dimples! How dare they? Only the people of India should have been allowed to buy these teams! Whats that
you say? These people are Indians? Nonsense! Everybody knows a real Indian is poor, illiterate and lives in a
village without electricity and only dirt roads to walk on. Everybody else is a Western stooge out to destroy our
culture where money is simply not important.
But wait! Whats this? The ICC says theres no place in the schedule for the IPL to stage its games? Well! Talk about
racism! Theyre all jealous of Indian ingenuity is what they are! Down with the ICC! And just look where they all met
in Malaysia! Who meets in Malaysia? Underworld characters, thats who. Havent you seen Donand Gangster?
Kuala Lumpur is where they all go! Oh my God! Theyre going to kill us all!
But what if all this money thing goes to Dhonis (those greasy locks are now worth $1.5 million eat that Andrew
Symmonds!) head and we lose all our ODI matches? After all, weve lost matches before because our cricketers
were busy making too much money by advertising stuff the talking heads on TV said so! And they never lie! Admaking is practically devil-worshiping, after all. Everybody knows that!
On the other hand damn, Im tired of all this outrage. How long does this news cycle last anyway? Oh, it just goes
on till I drop dead of exhaustion? Lovely. You know what, Im going to conserve my energy. Ill need it when Lalit
Modi brings American style football to India and players start earning tens of millions to mow each other down for
the supreme honor of holding on to a ball that doesnt even look like a ball. Or when Russell Crowe brings his rugby
fixation to India so we can lose to the Australians at yet another sport.
Hey, by the way, are these the guys wholl have to wear those neon orange and hot pink outfits? Oh, please let it be
them!

Advertisements thrive on cricket grounds

Sylvester da Cunha, Apr 21, 2010, 05.59am IST

The Ferozeshah Kotla ground displayed products like A1 pumps, Apollo dental
cream, Status shirts, Rajdoot paints, Labu cycles, T-T banians, Sahu tyres. These

brands obviously drum up sufficient sales in their zonal markets to afford an

occasional fling on national television.
Some stadium sites are of course more favoured than others to catch TV's eye
and thus project to a massive national audience. The most advantageous spot is
that on the right of the sight screen, facing the pavilion. Red and White Kings were
the fortunate tenants. They were on-camera almost continuously and easily
outdisplayed Tingler (on the twin side of the screen) 100-to-1 . Yet this disparity
was not reflected in the rentals paid by the two advertisers Rs. 1,50,000 and Rs.
1,25,000 respectively.

JUST HOW MUCH MONEY DOES THE

BCCI MAKE?
Im sorry to continue writing about the BCCI; cricket administration isnt my forte
(nor is it a major theme of this blog). But seeing the quality of most cricket boards
around the world, I think we ought to pay a little more attention to the overlords
who supposedly take care of our game. So, some questions and answers:
1. Is the BCCI public or private? That is, is it a government agency, or a private
corporation?
Well, heres the tricky thing. For the public argument: until a few years ago, the
Indian government granted a tax exemption to the BCCI, a decision that meant the
Indian government which expends resources on cricket stadiums, security, etc.
collected zilch from one of the richest sporting bodies in the world. Then, in
2010, a government agency realized the exemption was sillybecause the BCCI is
no longer promoting cricket as a charitable activity and is now primarily a

commercial entity. As a result, the BCCI has paid more than 200 crore in taxes
over the last couple of years, but that number may not be even close to their actual
tax bill.
2. OK. So, given that they pay taxes and the Central government treats it like a
business, the BCCI isnt public, right?
Well, yes and no. Take a look, for instance, at the people who run the BCCI. Its
working committee includes Anurag Thakur, a member of Parliament and Arun
Jaitley, a leader of the federal opposition and a former Cabinet minister; the
Finance Committee is led by J.M. Scindia, a minister of state in the central
government; and the IPL committee is led by Rajeev Shukla, a former journalist
and now a minister of state. Im sure there are other political bigwigs on the list, but
I think Ive made my point: how private is an organization that is led by so many
public figures?
Now, to be fair, the list includes a fair number of businessmen and ex-cricketers.
And Im sure some of these politicians have some knowledge and ability to
contribute to the BCCI, but isnt this all a flagrant violation of conflict-of-interest
norms? Take a look, for example, at the U.S. Senate ethics code, which says:

A Senator and anyone earning an annual rate of pay above $25,000 and
employed for more than 90 days in a calendar year:

May not affiliate with an outside business for the purpose of

providing professional services (e.g., consulting, medical, real
estate, insurance, or legal services) for compensation.
May not permit his or her name to be used by an outside business
providing professional services for compensation.

May not practice a profession for compensation to any extent

during regular office hours in the employing Senate office.
May practice a profession during off hours as long as the individual
avoids affiliating with a firm.

If you say the BCCI is a private entity, then theres no way these politicians can
justify their decision to be a part of it (even though all BCCI officer holders are
honorary). If you say the BCCI is a publicentity, then it needs to be regulated better
so that it is more accountable to taxpayers. And its not as if the conflict-of-interest
is an abstract issue; the question has already come up in court:

A division bench of Justices P B Majmudar and R G Ketkar, while

hearing the PIL filed by Shiv Sena leader Subhash Desai seeking a
direction to the Maharashtra government to recover entertainment tax
from IPL, asked the petitioner to make Pawar a party if he wanted to
make allegations against him.
If a minister holds a post in a cricket association, and the state cabinet
is to decide on granting some exemption to the associationperhaps
conflict of interest may arise, the bench observed.
3. So how much money does this public/private organization make?
The thing is, no one really knows. In their latest release, the BCCI said it made a
profit of roughly $40 million, mostly due to IPL largesse (profit: $25 million). But the
IPL finances are notoriously shady and a Parliament steering committee has been
trying to figure out how much tax the BCCI owes the government:

The Committee has noted that the Board had been enjoying
questionable tax benefits having got exemption to the tune of Rs 225 cr
before 2007 & having submitted only Rs 92 crore out of the Rs 118 crore
that was demanded in 2007.
Moreover out of the Rs 375 crore Tax that that was demanded in 2 years
from 2007 to 09, the BCCI has paid only Rs 249 crore.
The Committee said its astonished that the Income Tax Department
could not finalise the assessment of income of BCCI for the last three
years.
4. Where does that leave us?
Not sure. In the end, we have a bunch of political honchos running a game that
makes hundreds of millions of dollars a year and is a national passion but we
dont really know how transparent their books are; we dont know why certain
states levy an entertainment tax and others dont; and we dont know how
professional the whole outfit is. The problem is that more government intervention
isnt necessarily the answer, but more transparency may be. Does anyone know,
for example, if Indian MPs are required to disclose their incomes and stock
holdings? Does anyone know if the BCCI has a charter that spells out how its
possible that an office holder can also own an IPL franchise?

Domestic players to get at least Rs.15 lakh each from BCCI

The Indian cricket board will be distributing up to Rs.100 crore among around 200
cricketers, mostly of the deprived previous generation, sending a wave of excitement
among them.

Many of the players benefitting from this 'one-time' largesse would be the ones who
slogged it out in domestic tournaments for many years without getting matching financial
rewards, and never got to play Test matches for various reasons.
Although the details are still being worked out, officials involved in chalking out the
scheme say that players are expected to receive a minimum of Rs.15 lakh and a
maximum of Rs.1crore. They say only former first-class players and Test/ODI cricketers
who played till 2003-04, when the BCCI launched a monthly-pension scheme, are being
considered for this scheme.
N Srinivasan, president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), made the
initial announcement about this at the Indian Premier league (IPL) opening ceremony in
Chennai on Tuesday. He said that the proceeds of the three play-off IPL games would be
distributed among those who have played both international and domestic cricket for a
long time.
This benefit will be besides the BCCI's monthly gratis scheme for former players and a
separate pension scheme that some state associations like Delhi are running.
Giving a peep into the scheme, Rajeev Shukla, chairman of the IPL governing council,
said that the idea was to reward those who never got reward for toiling for years in
domestic cricket.
"The modalities are still being worked out, but we have agreed to distribute
between Rs.75 crore and Rs.100 crore among the players who are very old and not
financially well-off," Shukla told Mail Today.
"However, we are yet to decide the criteria for distribution of this money, like the period
for which this scheme will be implemented and the slabs of the number of matches etc.,"
he said.
A senior BCCI official involved in the drawing up of the scheme said that besides the IPL,
the BCCI could also draw money from its share of profit from the Champions League
T20, which is organised in association with Australian and South African boards.
"The plan is to take roughly about Rs.18 crore from the IPL and about Rs.70 crore from
the Champions League T20 to make up the fund that would be distributed," he disclosed.
"Around 200 players who would benefit would be those who have played over 75 firstclass matches but never Test cricket, besides those who played Test cricket and One-day
Internationals before 2003-04," he said. "A player who qualifies for this scheme would
receive at least Rs.15 lakh and a maximum of Rs.1 crore. The domestic limited-over
tournaments like Deodhar Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy, and the Ranji Trophy one-day
matches will also be taken into account. Three one-day games would be constituted as
one first-class match and if someone falls short of 75 first-class-match criterion, the
limited-over matches played by him would be taken into account to see if he reaches the
75-match mark."
Former left-arm spinner Rajinder Goel, who played the maximum first-class matches in
India without getting to play Test cricket, is excited at hearing the BCCI announcement.
"It's good to hear that the BCCI also thinks about players like us who never played Test
matches. I am excited since hearing the announcement and I expect to get the benefit of
this scheme. I have started getting congratulatory phone calls from people who are

saying that I would qualify for this new scheme, though I don't know what it is," Goel told
Mail Today from Rohtak home.
"I've played maximum firstclass matches in India - 157 - and 123 of them are Ranji
Trophy matches. When I used to play there was little money. When I got a job in the
State Bank of India in 1963 and shifted to Delhi, I used to get Rs.5 per day for a firstclass
match," said the legendary spinner, who represented Southern Punjab, Delhi and
Haryana.
Rajeev Shukla said that one of the main reasons for giving this benefit to players is that
the old BCCI scheme of allotting benefit matches to deserving players had become nonfunctional.
"The allotment of benefit matches was an exercise that had become limited to paper.
Players have been allotted benefit matches, but many matches have not taken place.
That's why we thought of giving a one-time benefit to players, many of whom don't have
the resources to organise their benefit matches," he explained.
Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/domestic-players-to-get-at-least-rs-15lakh-each-from-bcci/1/183293.html

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), headquartered at Mumbai,

India, is the national governing body for all cricket in India. The board was
formed in December 1928 as BCCI replaced Calcutta Cricket Club. BCCI is a
society, registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act. It often
uses government-owned stadiums across the country at a nominal annual rent.
[citation needed]
It is a "private club consortium". To become a member of a state-level
association, one needs to be introduced by another member and also pay an
annual fee. The state-level clubs select their representatives (secretaries) who
in turn select the BCCI officials.
As a member of the International Cricket Council (ICC), it has the authority to
select players, umpires and officials to participate in international events and
exercises total control over them. Without its recognition, no competitive cricket
involving BCCI-contracted Indian players can be hosted within or outside the
country.
'Richie Rich' BCCI clocks Rs.350-crore net income in 2012-13
The Cricket Board posted net income of Rs.350 crore, while its gross revenue stood
at Rs.950 crore during the fiscal 2012-13.

The BCCI, considered the world`s richest cricket body, has earned a surplus
of Rs.382.36 crore in 2011-12.
Informing this today after the BCCI`s Finance Committee meeting in Delhi, Board
Treasurer Ravi Savant told PTI that the net income figure has been arrived at "provided
there is no tax (levied on the amount)."
"The Finance Committee passed the accounts and they will be placed before the Board`s
Working Committee that should be meeting in the first week of September," he said.
Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/bcci-clocks-rs-350-crore-net-income-in2012-13-gross-revenue-worlds-richest-cricket-body-team-india/1/300907.html

BCCI net profit up by Rs.192.63 crore, 101.53 per

cent more than previous year
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the richest cricket board in the world,
has exceeded its own expectations for 2011-12 and registered a whopping increase
of Rs.192.63 crore, or a jump of 101.53 per cent, in net surplus over the previous year.
BCCI, now worth a mind boggling Rs.3,308.31 crore, had budgeted for a surplus
of Rs.296.31 crore for 2011-12, but ended up earning a massive Rs.382.36 crore,
according to its balance sheet.
In 2010-11, the Board earned a net surplus of Rs.189.73 crore. The difference between
the budgeted surplus for 2011-12 and the actual amount earned is Rs.86.05 crore - or an
increase of 29.04 per cent. Overall, the BCCI earned a gross income ofRs.849.44crore
and spent Rs.467.08 crore, for a net surplus of Rs.382.36 crore.
The main source of BCCI's income has been the media rights and it earned Rs437.75
crore from this category in 2011-12 while in 2010-11, it earned Rs.388.56 crore - a
significant increase of Rs.49.19 crore over the previous year.
The income from the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been another major avenue of
income, and here too the BCCI books show a colossal raise of Rs.146.38 crore over the
previous year. The BCCI earned Rs.265.14 crore from fourth edition of the IPL in 2011
while it garnered Rs.118.76 crore in 2010.
Since the IPL is always played in April-May, the income from its 2011 tournament is
shown in the latest balance sheet and the figures from the 2012 competition will be
shown next year.
The other most significant income in 2011-12 was the interest accrued from banks, and
again the Board recorded a handsome jump over the previous financial year, of Rs.23.79

crore. This year it received Rs97.47 crore as

interest while it was Rs.73.68 crore in 201011.
"The interest income has increased in spite
of the fact that the interest rates came down
[recently]. This was mainly possible because
of effective utilisation of available cash flow by investing the available float in short term
deposits from time to time," writes BCCI treasurer Ajay Shirke, who took over the reins
from MP Pandove in September last year, in the BCCI annual report.
Also during the past financial year, the BCCI received Rs.62.65 crore as its share from
the surplus that the International Cricket Council distributes to its member countries
annually. This amount includes Rs.61.54 crore in relation to the 2011 World Cup, hosted
by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, and Rs.1.11 crore from the annual ICC ranking
awards.
Last year, the Board had received Rs.23.81 crore from the ICC, meaning an increase
of Rs.38.84 crore. This raise was possible as India won the World Cup and with it
handsome prize money besides the tournament hosting fees.
Shirke, also president of the Maharashtra Cricket Association, is naturally elated to be
part of the BCCI's continued financial growth. "...am pleased to report that in spite of the
various issues that the Board faced from time to time, our financial performance has
been satisfactory...," he writes in the annual report 2011-12.
He was clearly referring to the various government tax agencies re-opening of the many
old BCCI/IPL tax assessment cases that had been settled long ago. They have
particularly targeted the Board, ironically, after it changed its objective in 2006 and
contributed Rs.50 crore to the National Sports Development Fund of the sports ministry.
This has caused a lot of consternation among the Board officials and they have appealed
against the decisions in several cases.
The only category in which the BCCI earned less than 2010-11 was through the royalty
from sponsorship. It earned Rs.14 crore this year while in 2010-11 the corresponding
figure was Rs.14.63 crore. Shirke is grateful to all his colleagues, particularly Pandove,
for helping him settle down his treasury office in his home city Pune.
"I'm extremely grateful to our president N Srinivasan for his valuable guidance and
support from time to time, the secretary, the joint secretary, and all the office bearers for
guiding me...," he writes in the report.
Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/bcci-net-surplus-n-srinivasan-mediarights-sponsorship-royalty/1/221898.html

Cricket Effecting Indian Economy

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How much do top cricketers

earn?
Cricket has been rocked by an alleged betting scam but how much do top class cricketers earn?

Big hitter: England's Kevin Pietersen makes a tidy sum - but many Test cricketers are
paid much less
In a world where the sports pages are dominated by diamond encrusted footballers, many people
imagine all professional sportsmen to be on easy street.
That makes events such as the alleged betting scandal involving members of the Pakistan cricket team
even harder for some to understand.
But many may also be surprised at how much some of the cricketers playing in the select few Test-class
cricket teams earn, compared to perceptions of what a top-class professional sportsman makes.
For example, did you know Pakistan's players are on roughly the UK average wage?
Despite failing to come even close to their football playing counterparts earning power, the members of
the England cricket team do much better. The central contract system is understood to give them
between 250,000 to 400,000 a year about four week's wages for a top Premier League footballer.
Australia's top cricketers get a similar amount, while South Africa's players earn around 105,000 a year.
On the other side of the coin, Pakistan's players are contracted for much less, at around 22,500 a year,
while Bangladesh's players get 12,000.
Beyond their guaranteed earnings, top class cricketers will pick up extra cash in match fees, win bonuses
and sponsorship opportunities.
Those picked to play in the glitzy Indian Premier League can also substantially boost their earnings.
England star Kevin Pietersen is reported to be the highest-paid IPL player with a two-year $1.5million
(973,000) deal, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Below Daily Mail cricket expert Lawrence Booth, goes into more detail on how much top cricketers make.
CRICKET CENTRAL CONTRACT EARNINGS
Country
Earnings
Per player, per year. Source: Daily Mail August 2010

CRICKET CENTRAL CONTRACT EARNINGS

Country
Earnings
Australia
400,000
England
400,000
South Africa
105,000
India
82,500
West Indies
77,250
Sri Lanka
77,250
Pakistan
22,500
Bangladesh
12,000
Cricket's great pay gap
Analysis by Lawrence Booth

The 4,000 cheque that Mohammad Aamer picked up at Lord's on Sunday as Pakistan's player of the
series underlined his country's status as the poor relations of world cricket.
It would be small change for most international cricketers, but is more than three times the 1,300 he
earns a month from his Pakistan Cricket Board contract.
Although the Pakistanis are thought to pick up around 3,000 per Test, that is still half as much as the
English and Australian players.
Even the more experienced Mohammad Asif - the other Pakistan fast bowler implicated in the no-ball
scandal - receives relatively little.
Despite being in the highest of the three categories used by the PCB to determine payments, Asif picks
up less than 2,500 a month - roughly the same as a young cricketer playing his first game for India. That
can rise with match fees and win bonuses, but even then the Pakistanis lag behind every other Testplaying nation bar Bangladesh, where top players get about 1,000 a month.
England's top centrally contracted cricketers, by contrast, are understood to be paid in the region of
250,000-400,000 a year, while the top-earning South Africans are paid more than 100,000 for central
contracts. Even the best-paid West Indians, who operate under a cash-strapped board, get a retainer of
nearly 80,000. And the Pakistanis' sense of grievance may be fuelled by the riches of neighbours and
rivals India.
The best Indian players, such as Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, earn a basic salary of more than
80,000 - a figure that soars with match and tour fees, sponsorship deals and Indian Premier League
contracts.
India's young pace bowler Ishant Sharma, who turns 22 today, earned around 4,000 for each of the 150
balls he sent down in this year's IPL - a competition the Pakistani sare banned from playing in for political
reasons.
Even more gallingly for the Pakistanis, cricketers from other nations - riding on the back of an increase in
player power - are now paid a percentage of their board's annual income.
Indian cricketers pick up 26% of their board's takings, the Australians 25% and South Africans 20%. Once
all payments and endorsements are taken into account, leading South African cricketers take home close
to 1million a year.
Read more: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/article-1702948/How-much-do-top-cricketersearn.html#ixzz2dLxus5dV
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You are here: Home Sunday Spotlight IPL, the business of big bucks and big people

IPL, the business of big bucks and big

people
The real money players here are oil conglomerates, breweries, cement,
infrastructure giants. These are serious people, with serious money, writes
Madhu Jawali

Little did Lalit Modi, chairman and commissioner of the Indian Premier League,
visualise that his disclosing of shareholders in the Kochi consortium would
snowball into such a huge crisis, which has all but ensured his ouster as the allpowerful boss of the cash-ridden Twenty20 league.
Modis disclosure of Sunanda Pushkars sweat stake in the Kochi team may have
led to her close friend and former minister Shashi Tharoors fall from grace, but the
after effect of it has been equally bad for Modi. In the aftermath of Modi-Tharoor
twitter spat, an embattled and embarrassed central government is going all out to
get to the bottom of the financial mess of this franchise-model league and the
skeletons are falling out of the closet like a pack of cards. Even as the I-T raids on
franchisees offices across the country continue, the alleged proxy stakes of
politicians and Modi are coming out in the open.
Of the eight franchisees in action, at least three - Rajasthan Royals, Kings XI
Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders - appear to be under the scanner of various
financial wings of the government for their money transactions. Incidentally, all
these three teams have some link to Modi. Here is a lowdown on the ownership
patterns of the eight franchisees.
Mumbai Indians
Owners: Indianwin Sports Pvt Ltd. Though it is a well-known fact
that Reliance Industries owner Mukesh Ambani and his wife Nita
Ambani own the team, their names dont figure in the list of

shareholders. The companys directors are Ashwin Khasgiwala, Ashish Chauhan

and Sudhakar Saraswatula. Reliance Industrial Investment and Holdings (RIIH),
Shinano Industrial Retail and Teesta Retails hold 90 per cent of the stakes in the
franchise. But then both Shinano Retail and Teesta Retails are controlled by RIIH,
making RIL the real owners of the team.

Royal Challengers Bangalore:

Owners: As of now Vijay Mallyas UB Group has 100 per cent
stake in the franchise. But the team will soon be overtaken by the
newly-formed UB Sports Pvt Ltd. I-T raid on the Group was
conducted on Thursday.

Deccan Chargers
Owners: Deccan Chargers Sporting Ventures. Deccan Chronicle
Holdings Ltd owns 100% stake in the side. I-T raid happened on
Wednesday.

Delhi Daredevils
Owners: GMR Sports Pvt Ltd. Soon after the Deccan Chargers and the Royal
Challengers Bangalore declared their ownership patterns after coming under the
scrutiny of government agencies, Daredevils too revealed their details, according
to which GMR Holdings Pvt Ltd owns 51% of total stakes. I-T raid took place on
Thursday.
Rajasthan Royals
Owners: Jaipur IPL Cricket Pvt Ltd. A subsidiary of the Mauritiusbased EM Sporting Holdings, JICPL is under intense scrutiny for
suspected unaccounted foreign funding. The RR is also under the
scanner for Modis suspected benami stake in the franchise. Suresh Chellaram,
who holds just 45% of stakes in the side, is the brother-in-law of Modi (He is

married to Modis wife Minals sister Kavita), while Emerging Media (run by Manoj
Badale and a close confidant of Modi) has about 12% stake. Actor Shilpa Shetty
and her husband Raj Kundra also own about 12% stake. Another major
stakeholder is Blue Water Estate of Lachlan Murdoch (32%), son of media baron
Rupert Murdoch.
Chennai Super Kings
Owners: India Cements are 100% stake holders in the franchise. The VC and
MD of India Cements, N Srinivasan, has been in the eye of a storm stirred by his
detractors, who point out conflict of interest as he is also the secretary of the Board
of Control for Cricket in India. I-T raid conducted on Wednesday.

Kings XI Punjab
Owners: KPH Dreams Cricket Pvt Ltd. Ness Wadia of Bombay
Dyeing, Bollywood actor Preity Zinta and Colway Investment Ltd
are the majority stake holders with 23% each. Mohit Burman, part
owner of this struggling team, is the brother of Gaurav Burman, who is married to
Modis step-daughter Karima. The franchise is reportedly up for sale now. I-T raid
was conducted on Friday. Gaurav is also a stakeholder in Global Cricket Venture,
which has digital, mobile and internet rights of IPL.

Kolkata Knight Riders

Owners: Knight Riders Sports Pvt Ltd. Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan
has about 55% stake in the franchise, while actor Juhi Chawla and the Sea Island
Ltd (run by her husband Jay Mehta based in Mauritius) hold the remaining shares.
After the raids on Cricket Association of Bengal and other KKR offices on
Wednesday, the tax officials claim to have found some incriminating documents
that will lead them to the source of funds from the Sea Island. Mehta also happens
to be the childhood friend of Modi. I-T raids took place on Tuesday and
Wednesday.

IPL - a business model to make money by vile

means
I wrote in 2010 about IPL- as the "Indian Preposterous League". Now,three
years later IPL hits a new low with betting rackets across the nation leading
to arrests of players and bookies .What is more disgusting is even
franchisee's and umpires are involved in fixing matches.The new moral low is
school students are involved in betting.Principals of schools in Bangalore had
to issue warning to students to stay away from IPL betting.IPL betting is
rampant among Bangalore school students . Children in Delhi's top school's
were caught betting through bookies . A new mobile phone app called 'betdroid-viewer' helps students with betting rates among teams . This android is
available for free online . Teenagers are fancied by this app .After seeing
betting tips they first get in touch with punters .Punters are cricket playing
students of class 11 and 12 .They in turn connect them with the bookies. It is
unfortunate IPL has become a gambling den of huge proportions . The
standing committee on Finance of the GOI has gone on record that money
laundering is done through IPL . The report has highlighted financial
irregularities of the IPL model ,but the government did not act. Is the
government silent because Rajiv Shukla the current Parliamentary affairs
minister is the Chief commissioner of IPL ?
ICC's Anti corructpion and security Unit (ACSU) head warned as early as
2008 that IPL had great potential for betting led corruption.What all had
happened in IPL since its inception . It has all the ingredients of an Indian
Masala movie . There were startling revelations about involvement of two
union ministers in the past and one of them had to resign on questions of
propriety.Overseas funding through dubious deals,embezzlement by those at
the helm in IPL,failed bid documents disappearing from files,match
fixing,betting,threats from underworld,blasts engineered to shift venue of

semi finals,circumventing rules to suit personal gains,IT & ED raids,disclosing

private mails to reveal mudslinging,garnering support for council meet by
opponents,awarding contracts to close relatives without bids,nonpayment of
taxes,late night parties,Charges of kickback to Lalit Modi the brain behind IPL
were all witnessed in the past . BCCI amended their rules and bye-laws to
suit those at the helm from time to time .To get past the conflict of interest
clause BCCI amended its rules for the convenience of its members who were
involved in IPL.Rules were circumvented by BCCI.All these were done
obviously for the high stakes involved in IPL.Proprieties were thrown to the
wind deliberately.Every deal had an hidden agenda. Even with all these
aberrations , I thought IPL provided a platform for a huge number of young
Indian talents who could not get a chance to prove. But unfortunately ,these
youngsters were also enticed in to making quick money by the IPL .
IPL is a commercial venture of the BCCI . Is it not obnoxious that BCCI is still
exempted from tax on grounds of promoting cricket . WB government gave
relaxation of 35 lakhs entertainment tax to KKR in IPL5.BCCI is still a
registered society under the Tamilnadu societies Registration Act. Why is the
government turning a blind eye to all these ?Why does BCCI resist the sports
ministry's move to bring it under the ambits of RTI ?Former Sports Minister
Ajay Maken tried his best to make BCCI a National Sports Federation . If
BCCI becomes an NSF, it would be bound to provide information under the
RTI and would also be forced to follow the anti-doping rules as specified by
the World Anti-Doping Agency . Maken's own cabinet colleague Rajiv Shukla
the present commissioner of IPL vehemently opposed the move.Why does
BCCI shy away from public scrutiny and accountability ?Maken recently
tweeted " Any organisation entrusted with job of selecting a National Team
can not call itself a Private Body!" Powerful ministers like Sharad Pawar and
Rajiv Shukla then made Maken redraft some provisions of the Sports bill
intented to bring transparency in sports bodies .

Why would celebrities and corporates vie with each other to own an IPL team
? Because the franchisees earn huge money .A franchise normally earns
revenue from a portion of the Ticket sales,Sponsorships,a cut from the
broadcasting rights sold by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. The net
worth of each IPL team would give an idea why there is great demand for
IPL team ownership . Whether a team wins or losses the IPL franchisee
earns money through sponsorships and jersey branding . This money is
much more than what they pay for the players cumulatively . As many as 10
to 18 brands are sponsored on jersey of IPL players. IPL management ties
up with brands and also for media rights .The franchisee gets a share from
this money,depending on the brand and number of sponsors . This has
emerged as the single largest source of revenue for a franchisee . At the
beginning of this season the estimated brand value of IPL teams were as
follows . KKR-$45 million approx,MI -$ 44.62 million,CSK -$45.28
million,RCB-$37.81 million,Kings xI -$30.78 million,DD-$34.22 million, RR$27.05 million,Sun Risers-$31.49 million, PW-$29.45 million.
Recent happenings reveal very clearly IPL is a business model to make
money by vile means . The root cause for all these evils is the greed for
money.One might earn fast money through betting.But in the process he or
she might have lost something which money can't buy. I feel it is time for the
BCCI ,IPL committee and the government to clean up the IPL mess.The SC
has already pulled up BCCI and IPL for its languid approach in cleaning up
the irregularities and spot fixing. More appropriately the SC said "Save the
gentleman's game " .

the League of Legitimate Money & Illegitimate

Controversies: IPL Cricket Facts, Statistics &
Trends
20130515 by Vaibhav in Buzz, Money

While IPL 6 continues to scale new records of viewership and ad revenue, its
touched new heights in terms of scandals and controversies.
Worst things first Top cricket and business controversies IPL 6
Even as the Indian T20 league has fascinated viewers, it has had a few
thorny issues too like spot-fixing, twitter rants and sledge-fests.

Pune Warriors Pull-out: Sahara India, owners of the Pune Warriors

franchise, have pulled out of the IPL over financial differences with the
BCCI stemming from the valuation of the annual franchise fee it has to
pay. The decision, came three years after it bought the Pune franchise
for $370 million the highest price paid for any of the IPL
franchises. The cause was the BCCIs decision to cash the bank
guarantee from Sahara that that it was obliged, under its contract, to
furnish at the start of each season. In this case, Sahara had furnished a
bank guarantee worth Rs 170.2 crore (approximately $30 million). Since
the deadline for paying the franchise fees was May 2, the BCCI waited
till Saharas IPL 6 commitments were over and cashed the guarantee on
May 20.

3 Rajasthan Royals players, and later a fourth one (a former RR

cricketer), were arrested by the Delhi Police for spot-fixing. India

fast bowler Sreesanth and spinners Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila
were held by the cops for allegedly colluding with bookies to bowl badly
in three games. This is the worst scandal to hit the league.

Sreesanths Twitter (mis)adventure: The Virat-Gauti spat prompted

the media to recall the 2008 slapgate, episode involving Harbhajan
Singh and Sreesanth. Sreesanth however, didnt find that funny. In a
series of explosive tweets, which he later deleted, he claimed that there
was never a slap and that the BCCI had done a cover up job. He called
Bhajji a back-stabber.

Rahul Dravid Vs Kieron Pollard: Rahul Dravid is the last person you
would expect to use harsh words. But he was driven up the wall when
Mumbai Indians Kieron Pollard gave an aggressive send-off to RRs
Shane Watson after catching him. Dravid called it an act of cowardice.

First batsman in IPL to be run out obstructing the field: Kolkata

Knight Riders Yusuf Pathan became the first batsman in the league to
be run out obstructing the field when he kicked the ball while trying to
steal a quick single against the Pune Warriors. The third umpire ruled
that Yusufs kick was a deliberate attempt to prevent the bowler (Wayne
Parnell) from reaching the ball. It cost KKR the match and a berth in the
playoffs.

David Warner Vs. Australian Media: Post the spot-fixing scandal, an

Australian journalist wrote a critical piece on the league which incensed
David Warner. Reason? Warners picture was used along with the
article. Warner attacked two Aussie journos on Twitter, calling them all

kinds of names. He faces trouble now with Cricket Australia seeking an

explanation and calling him for a hearing.

Kohli Vs Gambhir: Its never pleasant to see two players have a go at

each other; if they happen to Team India players, and also state-mates,
it looks uglier. In the RCB vs KKR contest, Kohli and Gambhir got into a
slanging match when Kohli had just been dismissed and was walking
away. At one point, they had to be separated by others. It didnt look
good and both were later warned by the BCCI.

(The legitimate) Revenue and Soaring Viewership of IPL 6 Cricket

season
Though the IPL 6 have observed a setback due to some of the recent
controversies, the revenue continues to paint a rosy picture.

The hike in ad rates has led to speculation of MSM raking in ad

revenues of above Rs 800 crore

With IPL being a highly evaluated property, brands such as Godrej

launched a series of new TVCs to create maximum buzz. Though the
advertising revenues have caught on towards the second half, the
starting ad rates were much lower than that of IPL 5 in 2012.

The viewership statistics and trends seen till the 38th match in IPL 6 2013
(which is fifty percent of the IPL6) are staggering, so much so that no other
live event has ever created this kind of reach in India.

IPL online across both boxtv.com & youtube.com/indiatimes combined

recorded a 52% growth viewership over 2012 (75.2M vs 49.3M last
year.).

The combined viewership of users watching highlights and clips saw a

whopping 480% growth in watch hours over 2012.

Highlight and clips of Chris Gayle and Pollard seem to be attracting

more netizens eyeball as the two together saw massive 480% growth in
watch hours over 2012.

In India Bangalore and Hyderabad lead the viewership with 14 % each

while Delhi stood at #2 with 10% viewership. Though WAM data for April
30 (Day 28 of IPL) showed YouTube slipping next to Espn cricinfo.
Surprisingly, WAM data kept Google out from top five list, which
essentially means loss in traffic related to IPL keywords.

Though the online viewership for IPL6 has been steadily increasing, its
interesting to note that the television consumption for IPL has been gradually
slipping. According to WAM data, w

hile the online viewership has been pegged at 52 per cent, the
television viewership has observed a sharp decline of around 13.6 per
cent as compared to last years numbers.

According to research experts, the drop in television viewership of IPL

is also contributed by introduction of DAS.

With DAS Phase 2 coming into force in Week 14 of 2013, there has been
rampant switching off of analog signals across 38 cities, which has impacted
not just IPL ratings, but ratings of other channel as well. Also the ongoing
spot fixing controversy has dented the image of the property.
How were the viewership trends durig IPL 5
During the entire IPL 5 edition, despite of lower rating on TV viewership,
Times Internet Limited, official online streamer in partnership with YouTube
for IPL recorded around 113 million views, a rise of 56 percent in contrast of
IPL-4 (2011) that had witnessed 72 million views.
[Updated April 2013]
IPL 6 2013 is here and a season of huge business spendings and earnings
has begin.
The Advertising and Sponsorships Business spendings of IPL 6 2013

Rs 1500+ Crores: Advertisers have bet more than Rs 1,500 crore on

Indian Premier League (IPL) Season 6 so far.

100+ Brands: More than 100 brands riding the IPL 6 through direct
advertising or sponsorships or innovative associations with teams. This
includes big as well small and even local brands such as Raindrops
basmati rice, Noida International University, Amity University, Live-In

Jeans, Sheltrex, R N Sports, Gilpin Travel Management and Sanskar

School.

25%+ increase in advertising revenue for MSMPL. Last year, Multi

Screen Media Pvt Ltd (MSMPL) had managed to get only seven
sponsors on board and clocked in over Rs 700 crore through
advertising. This year, it has 11 sponsors (including Samsung,
Panasonic, Karbonn Mobiles, Tata Photon, Cadburys, Parle Foods,
Usha Appliances International, Havells and Godrej) and 90 per cent of
its ad inventory is already sold and it is hopeful of closing the season
with revenues in the excess of Rs 900 crore. MSM began by selling its
inventory at around Rs 4-4.5 lakh, but a new advertiser wanting to hop
on to the network at this stage will have to shell out around Rs 5.5 lakh
per 10 seconds. A similar prime-time TV spot on the most popular
entertainment shows such as Bigg Boss or KBC costs around Rs 1-2.5
lakh.

Branding on Jerseys: As for the teams, even newbies Sunrisers

Hyderabad and Pune Warriors have their jerseys swamped with brand
logos. Pune Warriors, for instance, has its own brand Sahara, Finolex,
Killer Jeans, Sansui, Lux Cozi among others while Sunrisers has got
makemytrip, Kingfisher, Garnier, 7UP, Manyavar and Live-In Jeans on
board. This year, almost all franchisees have sold a minimum of 10
active spots on their players attire. The active spots referred to by
Karnik include lead chest, right upper chest, lead arm, non-lead arm,
back of the jersey, on cap, on the front and the back of the helmet, lead
trousers and non-lead trousers.

GroupM is the countrys largest media buying house and has facilitated
deals worth Rs 75 crore between various brands and IPL stakeholders.

Sponsorships the single-largest source of revenue. Sponsorships

have emerged as the single-largest source of revenue for IPL
franchisees, following their share in the central pool (includes media
rights and the sponsorships that IPL management ties up with
brands). According to estimates gathered from franchisees, different
teams have tied up anywhere between Rs 25 crore and Rs 45 crore
worth of sponsorship and partnership deals. Almost all of the old teams
have close to 20 tie-ups with different brands.

Value at which new deals have been struck has gone up by almost
100%. All of the six central sponsorships owned by the IPL
management were up for renewal this year. While the number of
sponsors came down to five, the value at which new deals have been
struck has gone up by almost 100 per cent. For instance, realty
company DLF had signed a five-year title sponsorship deal with IPL for
Rs 40 crore a year whereas new sponsor PepsiCo has picked up the
tab for Rs 79.6 crore per year for the next five years. The cola company
is also the pouring partner (essentially means the players will only drink
PepsiCo products on the ground) of eight teams. The other sponsors
roped in by the IPL management include Vodafone, Yes Bank,
McDonalds and Star India. Each of these is learnt to have bought the
rights for around Rs 28-30 crore a year.

Player Auctions and prices for IPL 6 2013

A total of 37 players were auctioned in IPL 6 2013 and the total amount spent
on them is around a whopping $11.89 million.

With 7 players purchased, Royal Challengers Bangalore team to

purchase most players in IPL 6 2013.

Sunrisers Hyderabad raked at 2nd spot with purchase of 6 players.

Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings purchased 5 players each.

Pune Warriors India purchased 4 players

Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Daredevils purchased 3 players

Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab purchased 2 players each.

While the most expensive player in IPL 6 Auction 2013 was Glenn Maxwell
who went to Mumbai Indians for $1,000,000, the most expensive Indian
player was Abhishek Nayar who was sold for $675,000. Here is the list of top
most expensive players and their final auction prices for IPL 6 2013 are as
follows
1. Glenn Maxwell- $1,000,000 for Mumbai Indian
2. Ajantha Mendis- $725,000 for Pune Warrior
3. Kane Richardson- $700,000 for Pune Warriors
4. Thisara Perera- $675,000 for Sunrisers Hyderabad
5. Abhishek Nayar- $675,000 for Pune Warrior
6. Senanyake- $625,000 for Kolkata Knight Rider
7. Chris Morris -$625,000 for Chennai Super King
8. Dirk Nannes- $600,000 for Chennai Super Kings
9. Jaydev Unadkat- $525,000 for Royal Challengers Bangalore

Well if Sunrisers Hyderabad does not sound familiar to you here, its the new
kid on the block. Here is there official video of Sunrisers Hyderabad which
will look to set a mark in their debut IPL season:

IPL Opening Ceremony Full Video:

There is a lot more of business happening behind the scenes

After receiving a fairly good response from advertisers for this years
Indian Premier League (IPL-6 ), Multi Screen Media (MSM), the official
broadcaster of the IPL, has hiked its advertising rates by 10%

MSM had earlier lowered rates by 10-15 % for IPL-6 and was charging
Rs 4- 4.5 lakh for a ten-second ad spot.

The reduced rates had made the property attractive for many
advertisers as brands made a comeback after having given the
tournament a miss last year.

MSM, which has only 20% of ad inventory left currently, may further
hike rates if the tournament kicks off well.

MSM is looking to make Rs 950 crore in advertising revenue from IPL6, up from Rs 750 crore it garnered last year.

The presenting sponsors PepsiCo and Vodafone have shelled out Rs

40-60 crore each while the associate sponsors like Tata Photon,
Karbonn tablets, Godrej, Samsung Mobiles, Panasonic, Usha
Appliances, Cadbury, Havells and Parle Foods have paid Rs 25-30
crore each for being seen on television during IPL-6.

MSM which will broadcast IPL on SET Max and Sony Six, has also
struck large deals with Coca-Cola, Parle Agro, Marico, Berger Paints
and Airtel.

Godrej will launch a brand new campaign with its new brand
ambassador Aamir Khan during the 54-day Twenty20 tournament.
Godrej will release as many as nine new ad films around the
masterbrand Godrej.

Soft drinks giant PepsiCo, which is doling out huge moolah around the
IPL having paid Rs 396 crore for title sponsorship, bagging pouring
rights for eight of the teams and signing on as a presenting sponsor on
MSM, will back this up with strategic and high-decibel marketing and
activation plans.

Coca-Cola is planning a blitzkrieg of its own despite not being an official

IPL sponsor. The cola major will be seen on the telly with campaigns for
brand Coke, Limca, Sprite, Minute Maid Nimbu Fresh and Maaza along
with its Thums Up brand ambassador Salman Khan launching a new
game on the actors Facebook page.

IPL Online Viewership Facts: Statistics & Trends on Digital IPL

viewership

The 2012 IPL 5 matches were streamed online by IPL official partner,
Times Internet Limited (TIL) in partnership with YouTube.

IPL 5 2012 saw a 55 per cent increase in online viewership. In

comparison with 72 million video views in 2011, 113 million video views
were generated during 2012 IPL 5 season

Video views from India showed a strong growth of over 87 per cent
from the previous year standing at 80 million in 2012 compared to 43
million in 2011.

The final 2012 IPL 5 match on May 27 generated 7.5 million video
views, making it the highest single-day viewership during the entire
season.

Facts about the IPL Business Model: How a Franchise makes money
A franchise normally earns revenue from

Ticket sales

Sponsorships

A cut from the broadcasting rights sold by the Board of Control for
Cricket in India.

What didthe 2012 IPL 5 Victory mean for KKR (Money wise)

Here are some real statistics about how the winner of IPL 5 benefits from the
win and how it impacts the business and money it makes:

The IPL 5 Player costs: It is estimated KKR spent about Rs 100 crore,
including Rs 50 crore for hiring players, this season. Four players

Gautam Gambhir, Jacques Kallis, Sunil Narine and Yusuf Pathan

alone cost KKR Rs 30 crore.

The IPL 5 Winners Prize Money: When Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
beat two-time defending champion Chennai Super Kings to win their
first ever title in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Sunday night, the
Knights not only shed their underachievers tag, but also pocketed Rs
10 crore in prize money, ensuring that the T20 cricket franchise was
able to make profit this season.

Sporsorship Money: KKR, have 18 sponsors, the highest among all

teams. After the win, KKR may also increase in sponsorship rates for
next year. A lot of existing sponsors have contracts which have a
mandatory 10 per cent cost increase clause in-built within the contracts,
but they might ask more of new sponsors from next year. The cost of a
non-jersey partnership with KKR is Rs 60 lakh and a jersey sponsorship
is upwards of Rs 1.5 crore. This year, KKR made roughly Rs 35 crore
from sponsorships. KKRs sponsors include Nokia, Birla Sun Life,
DishTV, ITC Vivel, Rose Valley, Royal Stag, Concast Steel, Bisk Farm
Biscuits, Coca-Cola, Emta, Manyawar, Freecultr and The Telegraph.

Ticket Sales Money: KKR hosts teams at the 65,000-capacity Eden

Gardens. This year, revenue from ticket sales was bolstered by the Rs
35-lakh entertainment tax relaxation that KKR got from the state
government. Eight matches were played at Eden Gardens, and KKR
sold 40,000 tickets a game at denominations of Rs 300, Rs 700 and Rs
1,500. Also, 10 corporate boxes costing Rs 10 lakh each were sold per
game.

The Business Benefit for sponsors

The instant brand recall that the jersey logo creates works out for Rose
Valley Group which paid Rs 5 crore for a place on the KKR jersey.

KKR brand value can be considered to have more brand value since
North, West and South have more than one team to support and the
East has just KKR. This means as a brand, KKR has a larger following
than any other team.

For any team to gain in brand value, three metrics have to be in place
core product quality or the quality of cricket played, marketing
effectiveness, and governance. While KKR have consistently been a
brand to reckon with, given Shah Rukh Khans star power and
marketing prowess, the team has never been known for its
performance, making the playoffs for the first time in the past four
seasons last year. Their win will change this, ensuring that the KKR
franchises value gets a major push. Also, the issues around
governance and controversies that surrounded KKR seem to have been
sorted out.

How much does brand value matter ? Does it actually convert to money
for an IPL Franchise ?

That performance is a key index to brand value is clear from last years
team brand rankings.

The value of Chennai Super Kings which won IPL for two consecutive
years in 2010 and 2011 and were the finalists this year was pegged at
$75.13 million, making them the most valuable team in the IPL.

Mukesh Ambani-owned Mumbai Indians, who have been consistent

performers, were placed second, with a cumulative brand value of
$63.58 million

KKR were placed third at $57.576 million.

However these ranking and value for each team were bound to change after
KKRs win in this 2012 IPL 5.
All the IPL business and cricket controversies of previous IPL seasons:
IPL 1 (2008)
Mumbai Indians stand-in captain Harbhajan Singh slaps Kings XI Punjabs S
Sreesanth after losing a match in Mohali. A sobbing Sreesanth is caught on
camera. After investigations, BCCI hands Harbhajan an 11-match
suspension. Sreesanth rakes up the issue in the ongoing edition only to be
reprimanded.
IPL 2 (2009)
Shifted to South Africa due to general elections, the second edition is marred
by allegations of Foreign Exchange violations. The Enforcement Directorate
one year later issues Red Corner in the name of former IPL commissioner
Modi. Kings XI co-owner Mohit Burman is beaten up by security guards on

allegations of improper behaviour with a lady spectator, belonging to an

influential industrialists family in South Africa. Shah Rukh Khan and John
Buchanans decision of Multiple Captaincy creates rifts in KKR team with
anonymous blogger Fake IPL Player creating a flutter. Later the blogger
reveals his identity and claims that everything in his blog was fictional.
IPL 3 (2010)
The BCCI suspends Modi for misappropriation of funds. Junior foreign
minister Shashi Tharoor resigns from his post after investigations reveals his
role in bringing Kochi Tuskers Kerala on board with his then girlfriend
Sunanda Pushkar also involved in dealings.
IPL 4 (2011)
Before the start of tournament, Manish Pandey is banned by IPL governing
Council for four matches as he indulges in underhand dealings with
franchises he would have got a fixed sum being an uncapped domestic
Indian player. Post fourth edition, Kochi Tuskers Kerala are scrapped from
the tournament, after they fail to pay the franchise fees. There were
discrepancies found out in their ownership patterns.
IPL 5 (2012)
Before the scheduled auctions, Pune Warriors threatens to pull-out of IPL as
BCCI doesnt pay heed to their request for an additional foreign player as

well as reducing the fee which would have been for 74 matches instead of
94. Their request for Open Auction with no player retention is also rejected.
During IPL, RCB cricketer Luke Pomersbach arrested by police for harassing
NRI woman Zohal Hameed and bashing up his boyfriend. Dispute settled out
of court. Life ban on Deccan Chargers pacer TP Sudhindra after being
caught in a sting operation agreeing to spot-fix matches. Veteran UP pacer
Shalabh Srivastava handed five-year ban on being caught agreeing to fix
matches. Mohnish Mishra, Amit Yadav and Abhinav Bali receive one-year
bans for unsubstantiated bragging. Pune players Rahul Sharma and Wayne
Parnell caught in a rave party in Mumbai. Deccan Chargers scrapped from
IPL after they fail to pay up franchisee fee to the BCCI. IPL 6 (2013) Delhi
Polices Special Cell arrests India pacer S Sreesanth, domestic players Ajit
Chandila and Ankeet Chavan who have allegedly spot-fixed three of
Rajasthan Royals matches in the current edition of IPL. The trio brought to
Delhi and in Police custody