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In the inaugural edition of the ICC T20 World Cup in 2007, a young captain MS Dhoni brought the trophy home. After India’s historic win, T20 cricket became all the rage and became the most marketable format the sport has ever produced. A year later, a giant in the form of the Indian Premier League (IPL) came into existence. However, it wasn’t the first franchise-based T20 league played on Indian soil. In 2007, Zee Entertainment Enterprises started a T20 league named the Indian Cricket League (ICL)
ICL featured six teams in its first season. After the inaugural edition, it became larger and three more franchises were added to the roster. The league became a threat to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as domestic cricketers Ambati Rayudu, Rohan Gavaskar and Stuart Binny played in it. When more domestic cricketers started playing in the league, it turned into a headache. ICL wasn’t recognized by the BCCI or the International Cricket Council (ICC). Soon enough, it earned the tag of ‘rebel league’.
BCCI’s strict steps
BCCI took stringent steps as not only cricketers but few people from its committee started joining the administration department of the league. The board also increased the match fees of players in domestic cricket and put a condition that if any player plays in ICL, he will be banned from Indian cricket for life. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) took the same action as well.
However, the ban was lifted off the players including Rayudu who made his IPL debut in the 2010 edition. There was a cooling period of one year for players who participated in the ICL.
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End of rebel league
As a result, only two editions of ICL could take place. ICL franchises and players were banned from the now-defunct T20 Champions League as well. ICC ended up getting scrapped in 2009 as IPL gained popularity and became the apex T20 league in the world.
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50-over tournament was in works too
ICL was not going to be limited to the T20 format but there was a plan for expansion to the ODI format as well. A 50-over tournament was in the works which became extinct before it started.
Was ICL a result of BCCI’s ignorance?
The idea of a T20 league was not new. England and Australia were already doing it, not at the level IPL operated but the tournaments existed. BCCI had ignored proposals of franchise-based tournaments before. It was BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi who chalked out the plan for IPL which has helped the board generate become the richest in the world.
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