By Ishwar Nath Jha
New Delhi, Mar 27 (IANS): Ever since the introduction of Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008, there has been a competition for franchise-based leagues in the cricket playing countries. But there is hardly any league which has got so much success as the IPL.
The IPL is like a blockbuster bollywood movie, in which emotion of fans, drama of players - on and off the field after the emergence of social media, in the name of spot-fixing a villain, is also playing their part and like any film, the cheerleaders that is adding the oomph factor, are involved in the league.
Perhaps, that is the reason why the IPL stands tall among other cricket leagues in the world.
Although, the IPL was the first T20 tournament that exhibited the franchise-based concepts of player auctions and franchise-based ownerships, however, most of the leagues in the world have added these things, but, none of them got more success than IPL.
Before the IPL started, the England and Wales Cricket Association introduced the first T20 domestic league named the Twenty20 Cup (now known as T20 Blast). Some believe that former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi has taken a cue from this league and made a concept of modern IPL.
Here is a look at other leagues in the world:
Pakistan Super League (PSL) – (Prize money Rs 3.67 crore)
The PSL is a professional franchise-based Twenty20 cricket league contested by six teams representing six cities of Pakistan. The league was founded by the Pakistan Cricket Board. Instead of operating as an association of independently-owned teams, the league is a single entity in which each franchise is owned and controlled by investors.
However, the way IPL is serving Indian cricket, the PSL is way behind the standard.
Comparing the PSL and IPL, former Pakistan's spinner Danish Kaneria said that both are poles apart.
"Being a very professional event, IPL is providing many talents to Indian cricket. And it's getting better and better with each passing season while PSL is doing hardly anything for Pakistan's cricket. If some player performs well in PSL then the unprofessional approach of Pakistan Cricket Board mars his chances of getting into the national side," the former Pakistan leg-spinner told IANS.
Big Bash League -- Rs 3.27 crore
Established in 2011, the Big Bash League or KFC Big Bash league is an Australian professional franchise-based Twenty20 cricket league which featured most of the world's famous cricketers. The league is getting more popular after each passing year but still way behind the IPL.
T20 Blast -- Rs 1.80 crore
Established in 2003, by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), the T20 Blast, currently named the Vitality Blast for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket competition for English and Welsh first-class counties. When the Benson & Hedges Cup ended in 2002, the ECB needed another one-day competition to fill its place. In this league, mostly English cricketers are playing from different teams. Recently the league was rocked by the racism allegation.
Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) – Rs 6.19 crore
The BPL was formed in 2011 by the Bangladesh Cricket Board. The first season was held during February 2012, and the games were held across Dhaka and Chittagong. The BPL is headed by the chairman of its Governing Council. The BPL is one of the three professional cricket leagues in Bangladesh.
Caribbean Premier League (CPL) --- Rs 7.5 crore
Founded by Cricket West Indies in 2013, the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) is an annual Twenty20 cricket tournament held in the Caribbean with Indian connection as it is currently sponsored by Hero MotoCorp and consequently officially named the Hero CPL.
The inaugural tournament was won by the Jamaica Tallawahs who defeated the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the final.
Apart from these leagues, there are many like -- Afghanistan Premier League (APL), Super Smash in New Zealand, Mzansi Super League (MSL) in South Africa, Lanka Premier League (LPL) in Sri Lanka, Premier League T20 in UAE, set to start in 2022, and many more but none of them are near the IPL.