May 30, 2008	Friday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 24, 1429

BANGALORE, May 29: The inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) which will conclude on June 1, is just the first step of a “grand vision” that will lead to the birth of a network of similar franchise-based models across the major cricketing nations culminating in the annual Champions League that will rival its football counterpart, a top IPL official has said.

England is working on developing their Twenty20 model; South Africa is convinced by the success of the IPL and is already reviewing their current franchise format; Cricket Australia (CA) may launch their IPL version as soon as next year; and even Pakistan is thinking seriously about starting their edition of the IPL.

“This is the grand vision,” I.S. Bindra, an influential member of the IPL governing council, said.

“The vision is to move cricket to the next level, and get each league in each country to resemble the English Premier League with an exciting mix of international and national players. And then you have the grand Champions League, like the UEFA model which has taken football to such heights.”

The immediate task is to start the Champions League as planned from this year.

Officials of the BCCI-backed IPL are understood to be meeting a team from CA in Mumbai on May 30 to explore whether the event, involving the top two domestic Twenty20 teams from five countries, can be held in England between Sept 28, when the ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan ends, and Oct 9, when the India’s home Test series against Australia starts.

“The problem is the four-day practice match from Oct 2 to 5. We will try to work out a solution with CA because the IPL franchises who will be part of the Champions League will want to have their best players available,” Bindra said.

Bindra, who recently returned from a trip to Melbourne where he briefed the directors of CA on the mechanics of organising a franchise-based league there, said one of his focus areas after taking over as the principal advisor to the ICC in July would be to “ensure that cricket moves to the next level in world sport” in this direction.

The concept, Bindra said, is backed by senior officials of the major cricket boards. Giles Clarke, chairman of the English and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), “has expressed interest in the model” after being briefed by Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman, last month; James Sutherland, the chief executive of CA, has confirmed interest in staging an IPL-style competition the following season.

And Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board Dr Nasim Ashraf is “very keen to launch a similar tournament there” after having deputed two representatives to feature in the planning stages of the IPL last year.—Agencies