Indian Cricket League (Florida) - ICL (India) News
Indian-Cricket-League.com (A Cricket News Site) The first news and information website on Indian Cricket League
The ICL (India) is a private cricket league that runs parallel to the existing cricket league managed by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The format of ICL is Twenty20. Indian Cricket League is a service mark of PayAutoMata, Florida. This website,
http://www.indian-cricket-league.com/, (Created on: 03-Apr-2007) is in no way affiliated with or is the property of Zee's ICL (India) or Indian Cricket League (Florida). This site is part of the Cricket Circle information and news network.
CS vs CL, ICL, Final: Chennai Superstars win the inaugural ICL T20 tournament
Dec 16, 2007
The Chennai Superstars pulled it off when it mattered the most as they won the finals of the inaugural Indian Cricket League (ICL) Twenty20 championship here Sunday evening, beating the local favourites Chandigarh Lions by 12 runs.
The Superstars also took away the winners' prize of Rs.39 million ($1 million).
Put into bat by the Lions who won the toss at the Tau Devi Lal cricket stadium, the Superstars put up a score of 155 runs in their 20 overs, losing 8 wickets.
Opener Ian Harvey, who has been among runs in this championship, gave them a good start, scoring 36 runs from 31 balls. Captain Stuart Law contributed with a 28-ball 34 runs.
In reply, the Lions kept losing wickets at regular intervals after their opening batsmen Imran Farhat and Hamish Marshall failed to give them a good start. Tejinder Pal Singh put up a fight with 35 runs from 33 balls. He top-scored for the Lions.
As the match seemed drifting away from the fold of the Lions, Andrew Hall and Sarabjit Singh put up a fight, scoring 30 not out runs from 27 balls and 28 runs from 18 balls respectively, but failed to finish it off for their team. Skipper Chris Cairns could not do much Sunday, scoring just 5 runs from 10 balls.
The Lions could muster 143 runs from their 20 overs, losing 8 wickets.
Player of the Match, former Pakistan bowler Shabbir Ahmed took 4 wickets, including a hat-trick, giving away 23 runs.
The Chandigarh Lions ended up runners-up, picking up their cheque of Rs.19 million.
Indian Cricket League to try new rules in Twenty20 championship
Nov 29, 2007
The rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) will try a few new rules in the Twenty20 cricket matches to be played in its inaugural championship to be held at the Tau Dev Lal sports complex, 15 km from Chandigarh, starting Friday.
"We are going to experiment with a few new rules in this championship. Let us see how these turn out to be," ICL chairman and cricket legend Kapil Dev said.
One of the new rules to be used in ICL's T-20 championship will be not to allow overthrow runs to the batsmen if the ball hits the stumps when a fielder is trying to run out a batsman. In case the ball hits the stumps in the run out attempt and the batsman has reached the crease, no overthrow runs can be taken.
However, if the ball does not hit the stumps, overthrow runs will be allowed, as per International Cricket Council (ICC) rules.
Anil Ambani, top filmstars to grace ICL inauguration
Nov 28, 2007
Top business tycoons such as Anil Ambani and filmstars like Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor would be present at the inauguration of the Indian Cricket League's Twenty20 tournament which kicks off on Friday at Panchkula.
"We have drawn up an impressive celebrity list. Besides ambani, Essar Group's Shashi Ruia will also come here to watch the matches," Essel Group's Executive Vice-President Ashish Kaul said on Wednesday.
Kaul, whose group is holding the fortnight-long tournament, said Kareena Kapoor and a top model Yana Gupta will perform shortly before the event takes off.
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda will be the chief guest.
The Zee group will broadcast the first 30 minutes of the ICL matches on all its channels, except the two movie channels while complete full live telecast will be available on Zee Sports.
Kaul said organisers had taken certain steps to ensure the games are conducted in line with international standards.
ICL has tied up with Ranbaxy Laboratories for anti-doping testing and has employed an external security consultant to monitor the players' dressing rooms and umpires area during the matches.
"This has been done to ensure the integrity of matches is maintained," he said, adding it was similar to the controls the International Cricket Council has in place for international events.
Wadekar joins ICL, appointed match referee
Nov 21, 2007
Former India skipper Ajit Wadekar has joined the rebel India Cricket League and will be the match referee for the League along with his former teammate and off spin legend Erapalli Prasanna.
The Essel Group floated venture also announced on Wednesday the list of umpires who would do the duty in the Twenty20 tournament set to be held in Chandigarh from November 30. Significantly, not a single Indian umpire has been drafted in.
The list of umpires, all from England, is: Raymond Julian, Jeffrey Evans, Trevor Jesty and Dean Johnson. The first three have vast experience of officiating at the first class level.
Commenting on the selections, ICL's Executive Board chairman Kapil Dev said umpiring a cricket match was not an easy task as it requires precision and experience to give right decision.
"Our umpires and referees have rich experience of the game and an eye for precision too. We are happy to have them with us", he said.
Craig McMillan signs up with Indian Cricket League
Nov 11, 2007
Former New Zealand international cricketer Craig McMillan has become the latest and last New Zealand signing for the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) which starts later this month.
McMillan left Christchurch earlier this week with Chris Harris and Nathan Astle, while Chris Cairns is joining the breakaway league from England.
McMillan kept his departure low key after retiring from the Black Caps citing health and family reasons last month.
New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan said at the time he would be disappointed if McMillan chose to play for the unsanctioned Twenty20 competition.
McMillan, 31, promised to think carefully before signing. However, it is believed that, leaving aside its lucrative nature, the brief duration of the tournament (just over two weeks) was a swaying factor. Other names added to the original list were Stuart Law, of Australia, and Marvan Atapattu, of Sri Lanka.
The ICL, bankrolled by the country's largest media group, Zee Telefilms, has unveiled 30 international players divided equally among six teams.
Vikram Solanki joins Indian Cricket League
Nov 11, 2007
Despite a strict advisory by England and Wales Cricket Board to stay away from the Indian Cricket League, Vikram Solanki has joined the rebel league, according to media reports.
"Vikram Solanki has become the third England player to join the rebel Indian Cricket League.
The Worcestershire skipper is due to join fellow county captains Paul Nixon and Darren Maddy in a move that could end his international career," according to a report in BBC.
Indian Cricket League names teams
Nov 05, 2007
The breakaway Indian Cricket League (ICL) tuesday disclosed its structure, the six competing cities, sponsors and the teams' uniforms designed by leading designer Manish Arora for the competition beginning near Chandigarh Nov 30.
The six city teams that will play Twenty20 matches on a league basis are Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Chandigarh, ICL executive board chairman Kapil Dev said.
Matches will be held at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula, near Chandigarh.
'The teams' gear has been especially designed in keeping with the international standards and hence we have signed on Manish Arora to design the outfits of six teams that reflect the spirit of new cricket,' he said.
Arora said 'The uniforms I have designed are just like the game itself; it is something very new, fresh, colourful and dynamic. I am sure we will all enjoy watching this fast paced game with the energy and vibrancy which I have tried to incorporate into the uniforms.'
Some of the world's well-known players like West Indian Brian Lara,Pakistan's Inzamam-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq and Imran Farhat and South Africa's Lance Klusener and Nicky Boje have signed to play.
Provogue, TCI, Sab Miller and Microsoft are the partners of the ICL, which will have a total of 20 matches in the first edition.
Next year, said Kapil, matches would be played over 50 overs per innings.
Each team will have five international players, and will have a dedicated support staff consisting of trainers, a physiotherapist, a dietician and a media manager.
The final has been slated for Dec 16.
Zee launches ambitious $232mn Indian Cricket League
April 02, 2007
In a move effectively challenging the Indian cricket board's national tournaments, Zee Group Tuesday announced the launch of an ambitious Indian Cricket League (ICL) with a corpus fund of Rs 1 billion ($232.26 million) and a promise to field many international players.
Stung by the announcement and in order to stop speculation, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) quickly issued a statement that its president Sharad Pawar has received a letter, but said no more.
The announcement came as a surprise also because Zee owns the BCCI rights for overseas international cricket. Zee won the five-year rights for $219.15 million.
"A professional league is the need of the hour as is the killer instinct in the players. We will try to do it as early as possible -- maybe in July," said Zee group chairman Subhash Chandra at a press conference here.
Chandra sounded extremely confident of getting the BCCI approval for ICL, whose winner would receive $1 million - the highest prize money ever announced for a cricket tournament in the country.
"It is not in conflict with the BCCI, but is complimentary to it. We have sent a proposal to the BCCI and I don't think they will reject it. I even don't want to assume that BCCI will reject it," he said.
BCCI, which has already called a working committee meeting in Mumbai Saturday to discuss the World Cup debacle, will perhaps have to add another item to its agenda.
The board statement said: "BCCI president Sharad Pawar has received a letter from Mr. Subhash Chandra, Zee Television, seeking permission to start the Indian Cricket League. An appropriate decision in this matter will be taken by the board."
The ambitious league, if allowed by the BCCI, threatens to do what late Australian millionaire Kerry Packer did almost three decades ago when he hired the world's top players for his own World Series Cricket following his fight for television rights with the Australian board. Chandra said that the current Indian team players along with those from other countries would be seen in action in the league. He said the ICL would be an annual feature. All the matches will be telecast on Zee Sports.
Zee also plans to set-up residential academies equipped with state-of-the-art facilities across the country.
Sports medicine would be introduced to ensure top fitness of players and a full-fledged record of their behavioural pattern, diet-plan and game statistics would be maintained. The group will also appoint talent scouts in all 35 states to hunt for young players to play in the league. "We have expertise in talent-search in the entertainment field, we will use that same expertise to unearth cricketing talent in India," Chandra said. He said each team would have a coach, physiotherapist, and psychologist. The league will have a professional media manager, and an ombudsman to resolve issues that may be raised by the public, or even by the players.
"A professional league is the need of the hour as is the killer instinct in the players. Budding talent must be groomed at the grass-roots level and given the experience to play on competitive pitches and not on placid tracks."
Chandra, however, declined to disclose the names of the players likely to take part. "There are a few big names which we don't want to disclose now." He added that other companies are invited to launch their own clubs or teams and can take part in the league. "We would love participation from other companies as well. They are invited to launch their own teams and take part in the league very similar to what we have in the National Football League," he said.
The Indian Cricket League Format
April 02, 2007
The Indian Cricket League will consist of six teams or clubs in the first year and will be increased to 16 over the next three years. To start with, all the matches will be Twenty20 affairs and will be played on home-and-away basis. Gradually, the format of the matches will be changed to 50-over a side. The champion team will get the winner's purse of $1 million. Each team in the league will have two Indian international players registered with the BCCI, four foreign players and the rest young and budding players. The players, who will take part in the ICL, will be contracted with the company and will get a fixed amount every month.
The finer points of ICL:
6 teams or clubs to play in opening year
Talks on with BCCI for gaining access to stadiums
Executive Board of the league under installation
Pool of referees and umpires to be created
Rules committee to form regulations for ICL
Ombudsman to look into grievances of players
League to begin with Twenty20 format and move to ODI format
League to be a joint venture between Essel Group and ILFS Group
Each of the 6 teams to be coached by an ex-India player
Each team would comprise four foreign, two Indian and eight budding players
Each team to have a mentor, media manager, psychologist, physio
Prize money for the winner- USD 1 million
League teams to compete with teams internationally
Number of teams to be increased from 6 to 16 in three years
The official web site of Subash Chandra's Essel Group's ICL is www.IndianCricketLeague.in
For news and information about the twenty20 League, write directly to:
Indian Cricket League, Essel Sports Pvt Ltd,
135 Continental Building, Dr. Annie Besant Road,
Worli, Mumbai 400018.
Email id: response@indiancricketleague.in
I really do not know exactly why the BCCI has shown scant interest in me. Erapalli Prasanna, talking to Rediff.
New Zealand Cricket cannot agree to release our contracted players to participate in the ICL. NZC Chief Executive Justin Vaughan.
If it is true that they have signed up, then losing Yousuf would be the biggest blow to Pakistan cricket. Shafqat Naghmi, PCB's chief operating officer.
This is the cream of the country. Kapil Dev, Chairman of ICL's executive board.
I thought of all the pros and cons... This gives me very good security. Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, the young Bengal batsman who signed up.
Yes, it will do better than BCCI
It will have a supportive role to BCCI 
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The official web site of Subash Chandra's Essel Group's ICL is 
I really do not know exactly why the BCCI has shown scant interest in me.
