The Indian Premier League is all set to enter its fifteenth edition from March 26 this year. Filled with the thrill of cricket, this league has dazzled everyone with its colours, flair and energy.
Players like Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rishabh Pant and Jadeja have used it as a platform to build illustrious international careers.
So how did it all start? Who had the idea to start such a big league? Let's know.
The idea first came in 1996
An idea similar to IPL first came in 1996. Modi Entertainment Network entered into a joint business with ESPN. BCCI sold the rights to broadcast India's matches to ESPN.
According to a report by Columbia Business School, Lalit Modi thought of starting a professional league of his own after understanding how to run American professional sports during his college days at Duke University.
In 1996, Modi decided to make his dream come true. He drew a league called the Indian Cricket League. The competition was to be held in a 50-over tournament between eight city-based teams. They decided that the teams would be sold as franchises and ESPN would broadcast the matches as well as pay royalties annually to the BCCI. The BCCI also gave its approval for the league.
After this, Modi spent huge sums of money to get the required players on board. However, during that time an honorary BCCI official asked for a bribe for a process and Modi refused it. According to a report by Columbia Business School, this incident closed all the doors of the Indian Cricket League and that's where the plan ended.
Wimbledon, 2007 again raised the issue
By 2007 cricket had changed dramatically. A new format named 20-20 had taken the cricket world by storm. This time Lalit Modi made a slight change in his original idea. He decided to start a T20 league named Indian Premier League. Now Lalit Modi was the Vice President of BCCI. This time there was not much trouble as he had the power to take decisions.
Lalit Modi receives $25 million from BCCI President
On 10 September 2007, the then BCCI President Sharad Pawar presented a check for $25 million to Lalit Modi to buy the players needed for the Indian Premier League. This money was given to Modi on the condition that he would have to control all the proceedings of the league from his personal office in Mumbai.
According to a report by Columbia Business School, he was not paid any salary for this and had to meet all his personal expenses incurred for the work related to the Indian Premier League and in return, Modi wanted the BCCI for the functioning of the IPL. stay away from
On 12 September 2007, Modi formally launched the Indian Premier League during a ceremony in New Delhi. Players like Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Glenn McGrath and Stephen Fleming attended the launch.
During the launch, Modi explained how the tournament is going to be played - number of franchises, number of matches, number of foreign players in a team etc. Interestingly, Modi had formally announced the IPL without making arrangements for the players, franchises, sponsors and broadcasters.
Players and Cricket Board
Fortunately for Modi, the first edition of the World T20 was scheduled to begin in South Africa in September 2007. He then divided the top 100 players in the world into four categories according to their earnings and skill set. The four categories were placed under four different pay slabs- $1 lakh, $2 lakh, $3 lakh and $4 lakh.
These salaries were the base price fixed for the players in the first IPL auction. During the World T20, Modi met the players and told them about their salaries and other benefits of the IPL.
Modi knew that various cricket boards around the world would have to allow their players to travel to India for about two months in a year. So, immediately he met the administrators of various cricket boards. All the boards agreed except the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
Owners of teams
According to a report by Columbia Business School, as far as the franchise is concerned, Modi approached his school friend Shah Rukh Khan and asked him if he was interested in buying the franchise. Later, Modi went to Thailand to meet Preity Zinta, who was vacationing in Phuket with her boyfriend Ness Wadia.
All three became the owners of the team. When Lalit Modi prepared a plan for the broadcasters, this league was completely ready. The first IPL match was played on 18 April 2008 between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders.
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