In yet another news coming from the Chennai Super Kings team, the former fast bowler who was out from international cricket due to an injury, L Balaji was included in the team

“I’m happy with the progress, but it’s an ongoing process,” Balaji told the Hindu. “I still need to play more competitive cricket. I’m taking it step by step.” He last played an international in August 2005 against Sri Lanka in Dambulla. Balaji said he was happy to have been picked by the Super Kings but he wasn’t sure how much he would get to play in this edition of the tournament.

“It works both ways,” said VB Chandrasekhar, the head of cricketing matters for the Super Kings, of Balaji’s inclusion in the squad. “When he’s fit and bowling well, it’s good for us, while the IPL is a platform to continue his comeback.”

In one of the latest news from the Indian Premier League arena, Dr. Vijay Mallaya’s Kingfisher bagged the rights to sponsor all the third umpire decisions and has become an official umpire partner for all the 59 matches to be  player.Kingfisher bagged these rights by paying Rs 106 crore.

“Kingfisher Airlines has had a long association with a variety of sports at both the domestic and international levels including Tennis, Formula 1, Polo and now cricket. Their decision bears testimony to the fact that the DLF Indian Premier League is here to stay, and is set to carve out a distinct niche for itself in the international cricket calendar,” said Lalit Modi, chairman and commissioner, DLF Indian Premier League.

As per the agreement, Kingfisher Airlines will receive branding on the umpires’ uniform including their shirts and hats during the tournament along with several other activation opportunities around the property.

Vijay Mallya, chairman & CEO, Kingfisher Airlines, said: We are delighted to extend our partnership with the DLF Indian Premier League with Kingfisher Airlines coming in as the official umpire partner. Our five-year association with the DLF Indian Premier League is further testimony to our commitment to building the Kingfisher Airlines brand through sports. The DLF Indian Premier League is a highly innovative concept and the Twenty20 format will undoubtedly take cricket’s popularity to a new high. Kingfisher Airlines will present the DLF IPL umpires in a completely new and modern style while retaining their critical role in the sport.”

The first match will be played between Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders and Vijay Mallya’s Royal Challengers of Bangalore at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.

Icon player concept is introduced in the Indian Premier League.Explaining this, an icon player is a player who can only play for his home city in the competition.These icon players don’t have to go through bidding.These icon players have an advantage that they are guaranteed to get paid at least 15% more than the next top earner in their team.

List of icon players * Sachin Tendulkar for Mumbai Indians
* Rahul Dravid for Bangalore Royal Challengers
* Sourav Ganguly for Kolkata Knight Riders
* Yuvraj Singh for Mohali
* Virender Sehwag for Delhi DareDevils

V.V.S Laxman was also offered the icon player status but he declined it.

Though Mahinder Singh Dhoni was the highest paid cricketer in Indian Premier League but Australian Player Andrew Symonds was also not far away. He was auctioned for Rs 5.4 crore as against M.S.Dhoni ( Rs 6 crore).

The other foreign players who were auctioned at a very high price are :-

On February 20, 2008 the birth of a billion dollar baby occurred in form of Indian Premier League in India.This new venture of mixing business with sports is all set to rock and roll not only the existing players but also to the ones which have just started the cricketing classes.Never before in history of cricket such a huge amount had been spent or raised on a single day.On that day a total of $37.63 million was spent on 77 players by the big cash machines of Indian Industry including Vijay Mallya, Preity Zinta Shahrukh Khan , Juhi Chawla and many more.

Board of cricket control in India or the BCCI has again showed the whole world why are they considered to be the best managing boards when it comes to cricket.Out from no where, this unique idea has made not only the board richer but has also made the parents think seriously about this buddying prospect for there children.With that kind of money involved, now the parents will be more than happy to send children to play cricket.

BCCI:Earning Money From All Corners

The BCCI has earned more than $1.8 billion from mid January even before a single ball being balled.This money is from television rights and franchise auctions.The deal with Sony Entertainment Television and World Sports Group is expected to earn $ 1.026 billion over the next 10 years which is slightly less than $1.1 billion which the ICC ( International Cricket Counsel) will get in next 8 years from ESPN who own the rights covering Two World Cups, Champions Trophies and Twenty20 competitions.
This Billion Dollar Baby – IPL has made BCCI in the top 170 corporate entities in terms of revenues.

RETURN ON INVESTMENT

REVENUES

80% of TV revenues in years 1-5, and 60% in years 5-10

60% of sponsorship revenues through 10 years

Gate revenues

Franchisee shirt sponsorship

Local Sponsorship

Licensing programme

Uniform merchandising

IPL title sponsorship

4-6″official platforms

IPL team uniform supply

Apart from these, there are ample more opportunities to milk out the cash cow ie IPL