Indian Premier League - IPL / Andrew Hughes / 31 March 2009 / 1 Comments

With the news that the IPL will be staged in South Africa this year, Andrew Hughes has a think about the repercussions in terms of interest at the grounds and the different teams' prospects of winning.

Compare and contrast two high profile cricket tournaments. Back in 2007, the ICC managed the impressive feat of being unable to organise a party in the Caribbean despite having mountains of cash to spend and four years notice. This year, in the space of two weeks, the entire Indian Premier League has been relocated several thousand miles south west without a hitch. Say what you like about Lalit Modi, but he can get things done. Let us hope the ICC have been taking notes

And an intriguing possibility presents itself. If the Not-The-Indian-Premier-League 2009 is a success, it might be the blueprint for future editions. If the IPL were to be based in a new country each year, this would generate revenue for the various national cricket boards, restrict the top players to one multi-million dollar league a year and enable the franchises to become global, rather than merely Indian brands.

But all that is for the future. There are still some questions to be answered about IPL 2009. For a start, no-one can really be sure what the atmosphere inside the grounds will be like, come mid-April. Fifty games of cricket between what are essentially Indian domestic teams is quite a hard sell and might mean an awful lot of seats to fill at short notice. And whilst the real money in this venture comes from television, not gate receipts, rows of empty seats does not make for an attractive product.

One way around this would be to dish out the a few thousand free tickets, as it is alleged took place in India last year. But a preferable approach for the franchises would is to play as many games as possible in those areas of South Africa with large Asian populations. Hence the decision not to base each team at one 'home' ground, but to move the teams around, allowing as many franchises as possible to play in Durban and Cape Town. Those games at least should be well-attended.

Meanwhile, punters trying to weigh up the various teams may buy into the theory that having a lot of South Africans in your team would be a distinct advantage. If you're inclined to go along with this idea, then you'll probably be interested in backing the Bangalore Royal Challengers at [8.0] in the tournament winners market, given that they have five Proteas in their squad including international stars Dale Steyn, Mark Boucher and Jacques Kallis.

But I'm not so sure this theory is a valid one. International cricketers are globetrotters these days and most, if not all of the stars, will have played in this part of the world several times before. In any case the 'Royally Challenged' were so poor last year, I'd take some convincing to back them this time and the prospect of Kevin Pietersen captaining them should do little to instil confidence in would-be Bangalore backers.

A more significant advantage may lie with those teams who have the players to capitalise on the kind of pitches we are likely to see. Last year, the true Indian pitches enabled batsmen to hit through the line. This time round, we can expect a lot more juice in the wicket and humidity in the air. Whereas IPL 2008 was dominated by the spinners and the reverse-swing bowlers, the 2009 version could belong to traditional seam and swing merchants like Glenn McGrath (Delhi Daredevils) or Zaheer Khan (Mumbai Indians).

There is one further complication in that not all of the teams will be bringing all of their players over initially. Although the IPL have pledged to meet any extra expenses incurred as a result of the relocation, some have indicated they'll be bringing a core of players over and leaving a few players behind. But bearing all that in mind, there are some tempting prices on offer. Although the winners market is still yet to settle down, Rajasthan Royals look over-priced at [7.0]. Deserved winners last time, their success was in their team work and the inspirational captaincy of Warne. With excellent new recruits in Shaun Tait, Tyron Henderson and the availability of Morne Morkel and Justin Langer, they are sure to give you a great run for your money.