By IANS
New Delhi : In a surprise move Monday, a senior member of the Indian cricket board said that for their inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) they are ready to accept overseas players, who have signed for the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL), but put a question mark on taking back domestic cricketers.
“Foreign players who have joined the ICL are welcome to play for the IPL, provided they terminate their contract with the ICL,” said board joint secretary M.P. Pandove after a board meeting here.
When asked whether domestic cricketers, who have joined the ICL backed by the Essel Group are also welcome, Pandove said: “I don’t think they have any chance.”
The Board launched the IPL in order to counter the rebel ICL.
Some of the fringe domestic players and foreign cricketers like West Indies great Brian Lara and South African Daryl Cullinan have joined the ICL, which will kick-off with the inaugural Twenty20 Tournament from Nov 30 in Panchkula.
The board has barred all domestic cricketers, who joined the ICL, from playing in board-run tournaments.
Board vice-president Rajiv Shukla said as of now the exemption is only for overseas players. “Foreign players will be allowed to shift from ICL to IPL, but no such exemption is given for domestic cricketers, though a lot of them are eager to return.”
The board also announced that IPL Twenty20 league would start in the second week of April and run through May, with 59 matches spread over 44 days.
The league will be modelled on the lines of football’s English Premier League and the highly popular National Basketball Association (NBA) league in the US, where entrepreneurs will get a chance to own a team and also select players of their choice.
Commenting on the number of the bidders, who have shown interest in owning IPL teams, board’s vice-president Lalit Modi said: “Till now we have a hundred applicants wanting to own teams, but can’t disclose the names of the bidders till the deadline for bidding is over.”
Modi also added that the media rights for the tournament would be floated next week.
“The media rights will be for five years, with a base price of $59 million for one year,” said Modi.
Meanwhile, Board secretary Niranjan Shah said that injured fast bowlers Shantakumaran Sreesanth and Rudra Pratap Singh will be called for the Kolkata Test match and team physio John Gloster would review their fitness.
He also said that 22 applications had been received for the post of Team India coach.