New Indian Premier League (IPL) Format Approved
The IPL governing council has finally decided the 2011 IPL tournament format and the player-retention issue after a lot of deliberation. The governing council has also added two more franchises for the league. The number of matches has been settled at 74. The format has been designed in such a manner that would benefit the most consistent teams in the tournament. The 2011 IPL is scheduled to commence five days after the Cricket World Cup.
The number of players that a franchise can retain in their squad is prescribed as four. Besides the four players, the rest of the squad would be selected through open bidding. The auction is scheduled to be held in November. Threshold on the spending of franchises has been set at $9 million.
The format of IPL had been a contentious issue for the last couple of months. The new format has finally been decided by the governing council. The new IPL format will observe 70 league matches and four playoffs. It has also been decided to split teams into two groups with five each. Two additional teams would perform in this session of IPL. The new teams that have been included in the IPL are Pune (Sahara Pune Warriors) and Kochi. Reduction of matches from 94 to 74 would enable the players to avoid being burnt out. The consensus between franchise owners and the IPL governing council on the number of matches may be termed a big achievement.
The number of league games has been equally divided between all the teams. The new format requires each team to play seven matches at home and seven matches away from home. Similarly, each team in the groups is equally compensated for the other matches to either play at home or away. Groups would be formulated through random draw.
The semi-final match would be held between the first and second teams in the league table. The contest could more appropriately be termed as first playoff (Game A). Teams at third and fourth position would go for a knockout game (Game B). The knockout game would actually be a quarterfinal contest. The winner of Game B and loser of Game A would then face each other. The winner of the match would reach the final. Similarly, the winner of Game A, who is regarded the first finalist, would compete with the other finalist to fight for the final title of 2011 IPL. The playoff methodology has been taken from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754’s cricket.
The 2011 IPL will witness new rules governing the retention of players. Franchises have been authorized to retain four players. The rule further stipulates that the franchises can retain only three Indians out of the four. It has also been made mandatory for retained players to be amongst the registered players for the 2010 season. The fee of the retained players would be carried out in mutual agreement between the stakeholders.
A threshold amount has also been defined for the retention of players. With retention of four players, a franchise is required to pay $4.5 million per year. Hence the franchise will be left with only $4.5 million more to spend on other players. Contrary to it, the franchise without retention of any players would have $9 million at its disposal. The new rules have limited the number of players to be 30 for a squad.
Pune and Kochi, the additional franchises for 2011, could sign four players who were not affiliated with any of the other franchises in the last three IPL competitions. The salary cap rule on the new franchises would be applied in the same manner if they sign players ahead of the auction in November. The auction would include international capped players along with other experienced players who have played 75% of IPL matches in 2010.
Franchises have been allowed to sign ten overseas players in their squad, but only four can stay at a time in the field. The contracts between the players and franchise would remain valid for two years that is extendable to three years.
In order to maintain control on the players, the BCCI is thinking to involve itself in the contract between players and the franchise. Although a final decision on the issue is yet to come, the BCCI may develop a centralized control mechanism.
The finalization of the new rules and regulations for the 2011 IPL is indeed a very positive step. The decision would end the speculations about the future of the IPL. It is now expected that another thrilling event in the form of the 2011 IPL would entertain the fervent cricket fans.
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