Gurgaon : The BCCI-backed Indian Premeir League may have the best of current players on its roster but the Indian Cricket League recruit Chris Cairns feels the so-called rebel venture would be a bigger hit with the fans as it has more local youngsters.
“The IPL will have a lot of current players and all of them are huge stars. But ICL has an edge because we have a local flavour to our sides, which makes it easier for the fans to connect with us,” the former New Zealand all-rounder said.
“We have a nice mix of youth and experience in all our teams. On one hand we have recently-retired megastars like (Brian) Lara and Inzamam-ul Haq, who can pull in crowds on any given day. And on the other, there are youngsters from within India, who will get an opportunity to showcase their talent,” he added.
Cairns said another factor which makes ICL more appealing to fans is that it would be the first of the two Twenty20 leagues to take off.
“IPL hasn’t even started and it will be some time before it happens. But we are getting started right away and being the first has its advantages because if everything goes off well and spectators enjoy our product, it will raise the bar for IPL. So as I see it, ICL is certainly bigger at the moment,” he explained.
The 37-year-old felt it was unfair to call ICL a rebel league.
“More than anybody else, I think its the media which is trying to build it up as a rebel series. I don’t agree with this description. Take for instance my case, How can you call me a rebel? I am not contracted to my country’s board any more, so no one has the right to stop me from coming here and playing,” he said.
“As for the boards threatening to ban players, it’s unfortunate. Playing in ICL does not make you ineligible for selection. Why can’t we treat it as just another opportunity to go and play cricket?” he asked.
On his own reasons to sign up with ICL, Cairns, who would be playing for Chandigarh Lions, said, “Playing here would help me stay in touch with the game that I love and which gave me so much. It’s an interesting format and I found the whole package quite appealing.”
“And it would be interesting to find out how I do against the younger lot,” he quipped.
I got this through an email from a friend. This post lists out the game schedules as well as the team information for Indian Premier League (IPL), a Twenty 20 Cricket league in India.
IPL Game Schedule April 19 : Delhi v Jaipur at Delhi
April 20: Mumbai v Bangalore at Mumbai;Kolkata v Hyderabad at Kolkata
April 21: Jaipur v Mohali at Jaipur
April 22: Hyderabad v Delhi at Hyderabad
April 23: Chennai v Mumbai at Chennai
April 24: Hyderabad v Jaipur at Hyderabad
April 25: Mohali v Mumbai at Mohali
April 26: Bangalore v Jaipur at Bangalore; Chennai v Kolkata at Chennai
April 27: Mumbai v Hyderabad at Mumbai;Mohali v Delhi at Mohali
April 28: Bangalore v Chennai at Bangalore
April 29: Kolkata v Mumbai at Kolkata
April 30: Delhi v Bangalore at Delhi.
May 1: Hyderabad v Mohali at Hyderabad; Jaipur v Kolkata at Jaipur
May 2: Chennai v Delhi at Chennai.
May 3: Hyderabad at Bangalore at Hyderabad; Mohali v Kolkata at Mohali
May 4: Mumbai v Delhi at Mumbai; Jaipur v Chennai at Jaipur
May 5: Bangalore v Mohali at Bangalore
May 6: Chennai v Hyderabad at Chennai
May 7: Mumbai v Jaipur at Mumbai
May 8: Delhi v Chennai at Delhi; Kolkata v Bangalore at Kolkata
May 9: Jaipur v Hyderabad at Jaipur
May 10: Bangalore v Mumbai at Bangalore; Chennai v Mohali at Chennai
May 11: Hyderabad v Kolkata at Hyderabad; Jaipur v Delhi at Jaipur
May 12: Mohali v Bangalore at Mohali
May 13: Kolkata v Delhi at Kolkata
May 14: Mumbai v Chennai at Mumbai;Mohali v Jaipur at Mohali
May 15: Delhi v Hyderabad at Delhi
May 16: Mumbai v Kolkata at Mumbai
May 17: Delhi v Mohali at Delhi; Jaipur v Bangalore at Jaipur
May 18: Hyderabad v Mumbai at Hyderabad; Kolkata v Chenna at Kolkata
May 19: Bangalore v Delhi at Bangalore
May 20: Kolkata v Jaipur at Kolkata
May 21: Mumbai v Mohali at Mumbai; Chennai v Bangalore at Chennai
May 22: Delhi v Kolkata at Delhi
May 23: Mohali v Hyderabad at Mohali.
May 24: Delhi v Mumbai at Delhi; Chennai v Jaipur at Chennai
May 25: Bangalore v Hyderabad at Bangalore; Kolkata v Mohali at Kolkata
May 26: Jaipur v Mumbai at Jaipur
May 27: Hyderabad v Chennai at Hyderabad
May 28 and 29: Rest days
May 30: First semi-final at Mumbai
May 31: Second semi-final at Mumbai
June 1: Final at Mumbai
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