Hyderabad: 

It is a well-known fact that the world’s biggest cricket league, the Indian Premier League (IPL), started in 2008 with Rajasthan Royals beating Chennai Super Kings in the inaugural edition to lift the title. IPL became a big industry in itself in no time, and it has earned immense popularity over the years. The world’s best cricketers compete in the tournament, and cricket fans enjoy the broadcast of the event. However, do you know that the idea of IPL - the brainchild of Lalit Modi was proposed to BCCI in 1995, but the idea was accepted 13 years later.

Lalit Modi’s vision to transform cricket into an NBA-style spectacle

In the 1990s, Lalit Modi used to reside in North Carolina, where he developed a deep interest in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He saw how the franchises are taking over the international games and got inspired by the concept. After returning to India, he had an aim to cash in on the growing popularity of cricket in India. His business, Modi Entertainment Networks, had become the official distributor of ESPN, and he knew the viewership ratings of the cricket matches.

The Mumbai franchise, which was owned by Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), became the most expensive franchise with an amount of $111.9 million, while Vijay Mallya’s United Breweries paid $111.6 million for the Bengaluru franchise.

Bollywood made its presence felt with two teams owned by star actors. Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla’s Red Chillies Entertainment bought Kolkata for

$75.09. On the other hand, Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia bought the Mohali team for $76 million.

Eight teams were split into two groups, with each squad having a minimum of 16 players. The tournament lasted for 44 days and a total of 59 matches were played in it.

Players’ auction

A separate auction for players was held in five phases. Firstly, the icon players - Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, and Sourav Ganguly were sold out. These players were to receive a sum of 15 % more than the other players.

After this, another set of players, including MS Dhoni, Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist, and many more, were bought by many teams. At the end, there was a draft of U-19 players which included the likes of Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja.

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