In one fell blow, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) today virtually banished the Indian Cricket League (ICL) spectre from its nightmares. Announcing its ambitious Indian Premier League, with an international arm—the Champions’ Twenty20—to boot, the Board opened the gates to untold riches for Indian cricketers, beating the Essel Group-promoted ICL by streets even before take-off.

Board vice-president Lalit Modi, having worked at it for the last one-and-a-half years, has come up with a novel franchisee model, a business venture that is set to spawn at least eight clubs in the first season (going up to 16 later), and all top Indian stars will be up for bids.

Adding spice will be Aussie paceman Glenn McGrath, ex-New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming and all-time great Aussie spinner Shane Warne. All have confirmed. “More are on the way,” Modi said at a glittering function in the Capital today.

The prize purse itself will be a decent $ 3 million for the domestic meet, but each star’s worth will be up for bidding —pushing the price of the likes of a Sachin Tendulkar to astronomical levels for a 56-game season of three-hour evening matches for the event starting April next year.

The amount can be gauged from the fact that Fleming, who had almost been contracted with the ICL with an offer of a three-year contract at $ 500,000 per year (plus endorsements), has opted for the IPL. Figures were around the same level for McGrath. Lara too has been contracted with the ICL for that amount. The amounts for Pakistan’s Inzamam-ul Haq, Imran Farhat and Mohammd Yousuf are not on public domain.

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