The league by Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Subhash Chandra has tried to give India an option and its irking many. BCCI is worried about its cash flows because now they have to compete for the advertisement time and rate and its going to be difficult for them to compete because they follow a top heavy bureaucratic system where even for a simple decision they might have to go through a couple of meetings. So that means that for an action of ICL they might not be in a position to revert back quickly and that erodes their competency. Kapil Dev backing this effort is another nail in the coffin of BCCI because he is also the chairman of National Cricket Academy (he was sacked recently) and now Brian Lara has also joined it.

Anyways talking about competition, BCCI is really worried and the frustration was evident from the way they announced crisis control measures likeputting a life time ban on the players who will become a part of the league. The other day, top officers were bragging about the fact that nobody will pay attention to these stars of the yesteryears but my dear friend, thou shall not speak when you are not sure. Atleast you shouldn't make forecasts like this which you know are bound to fail.

This league might not benefit the senior players or the Board as such but then it has a lot to give to Indian cricket and to almost all the other stakeholders.

We the public who waste the share of our time on watching our senior players either running after the ball or sitting in the dressing room with a towel draped around their shoulders want to see some players in action. We want something different. We want our men in the thick of the action, we want an identity separate from Indian team, we want to watch cricket and want to identify with these players because we don't treat you as just players, we treat you as our little symbols of heroism and we try to find happinness in your game. We need change.

For domestic cricketers - It will mean a lot to them. In most probability these players will be kept out of the system due to the presence of senior (read OLD) players and also because of political affiliation or due to halo/horn effects Look at the list, try to identify who are they? Deep Dasgupta was in prime when Ajay Ratra replaced him who in turn was replaced by Parthiv patel, whose career was spoiled by Dinesh Karthick and then Dhoni took it all. Kaarthick made it back due to his batting but then everybody is not Kaarthick and even if they are only 11 can play for India at a time. Shalabh Srivastava and Mritunjay Tiwari were the part of under 19 squad who won the world cup. They contirbuted as much as Yuvraj and Kaif contributed but then in India they dont make pitches for fast bowlers and their career is cut short due to the extra hard work they need to put in to extract bounce from a dead pitch. Shalabh has joined and hopefully after one successful season or two Mritunjay will also join provided he has some cricket left in him.

I don't know they will achieve something or not but then they will get to play quality cricket because their compensation will be linked to their performance. They have to entertain public and as they don't have ICC backing they might not care for their records in the long run. In short they don't have to play for the wrong reasons. They don't have to prove it again and again that they are capable of playing cricket. All they have to do is to go on the ground and play cricket.

For Foreign Players - They will bring the much needed experience and expertise into the system. Look at some of the names. Abdur Rajjak's I guess is fitter than some of the fast bowlers of India and perhaps generate more pace too. Nicky Boje is obviously fitter most of the present crickets. For Lara and Inzamam, they quit the game at the last time and as they will be able to operate in a free environment far away from Red-Tapism and bureaucracy, I guess they will flourish under the condition. Meanwhile, getting financial independence is another issue which will definitely bring in some seriousness into the game.

For Advertisers - It gives them option to put their money in. Most of the companies are taking cautious steps after the world cup debacle which will reflect on their balance sheets next march. They are still scared but now atleast they can take baby steps or in marketing terms can test market this ICL which can be aptly titled as league of Extraordinary Gentlemen. They will be having more options for merchandising and sponsorships. And we can see some happy faces there.

ICL will bring in goodies for grounds and small centers also which are solely dependent on BCCI for their bread and butter and the only other option they have is to rent out their facilities to private parties for priavte functions. Now, they will be in the thick of the things because to start at this time, ICL has to contract the grounds and support facilties. Given the kind of hiccups that are expected I guess that the long term viable solution is to develop grounds facilities and this is where BCCI has to depend on the ICL.

Its not like ICL is without the disadvantages but then, on the face of it advantages seems to be outweighing the disadvantages so let's support it as true cricket fans. I am sure that may be our senior players will draw some inspiration from this league of Extraordinary Gentlemen.