A little too much angst. Jealousy too. But a little less than outrage. Today, some people have similar thoughts about Indian cricket. The highest organization of world cricket is the International Cricket Council. ICC for short. Some critics even say that ICC is the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

Some do not like India's current dominance in international cricket. However you like it. What India says now, happens in world cricket. 

India also recently won the ICC Champions Trophy. The team confidently played in the UAE. The other teams that had to play against India were UAE and Pakistan. But, as everyone knows, the Indian cricket team is also the strongest in its own right now. Therefore, India won the second biggest tournament after the World Cup without losing a match. India is also the world champion of Twenty20 cricket. It is difficult for others to compete with India in 'white ball' cricket.  Another reason behind the

Indian cricket is said to be, is its financial strength. About 80 percent of world cricket's revenue comes from the Indian market. Therefore, it is said that without India, not only Pakistani cricket, but also South African cricket will not work. This is the only polar truth of world cricket. Why did this happen? There are certain reasons for this. Foremost among them is a franchise Twenty20 cricket tournament called the Indian Premier League (IPL).

IPL started from 2008. Since then, cricket has not been what it used to be. The success, expansion and popularity of the IPL can be said to be the reason why India has really become so strong in world cricket. The 18th edition of this tournament is starting on Saturday. This time too, a total of 10 teams are participating. Its defending champions are the Kolkata Knight Riders. Kolkata will face Royal Challengers Bangalore in the opening match. Bengaluru is the team from which Virat Kohli, the biggest name in Indian cricket, plays. Virat has been playing for the same team since the beginning. But so far this popular team from Bengaluru has not won the title even once.

This time the league stage game is a little different than before. Come the current edition, all 10 teams will play each other twice. League stage matches will be held from March 22 to May 18. At the end of it there will be first qualifier, eliminator, second qualifier and final. The first qualifier will be between the two teams at the top of the final league table. Its winner will directly qualify for the finals. Then the third and fourth placed teams will play the eliminator. The losing team will be eliminated from the competition. The winning team will play against the losing team in the first qualifier. The winner will be the second team to qualify for the final. Therefore, the top four teams will compete in the league stage.

There are two big teams in this competition. One happened to be Mumbai Indians. Next Chennai Super Kings. Both have won the title 5 times each. Then comes Kolkata. It has won the title three times. This time too, these three teams are the strongest contenders for the title.

So the last few seasons have not been good for Mumbai. But this time Mumbai will try their best to do well. In a way, Mumbai and Chennai will compete to be the first team to win the title six times. Otherwise, all 10 teams participating in the tournament are almost the same. After the first few rounds, it will be clear which team is underwater and which team is above water. To a large extent, the home ground also plays a big role in the performance of the team.

League stage matches are played once at home and once at the home of the opposing team. Having said that, not every team will play every game at home. Some of the competition's neutral grounds will also be used. The team that can score more points by playing among their supporters will be at an advantage.

Here, the results of the matches at the cricket grounds of Visakhapatnam, Guwahati and Dharamsala may also depend on the performance of the team in the tournament. Meanwhile, one fact is certain, in the coming months, all the cricket lovers will flock to this tournament. Because of this, one can see good bowling and fielding along with big sixes and fours during the match.

financial aspect

IPL is not called the richest tournament in world cricket. There is enough data to prove it. Again, nowadays the tool used to measure the competition is financial data. In the latest edition of 2024, it is believed that the financial transactions worth 16 billion 40 million dollars.

This competition has made the Indian economy run. Like, when Mumbai Indians play, the whole city is focused on that game. Everyone watches cricket in one form or another, from sitting at home to cafes and restaurants. IPL matches are played on the screen on the road. This makes the market run on itself. Not only Mumbai, this is the story of other cities as well.

, especially when talking about the IPL, is only the figures of millions and billions of dollars. IPL's biggest source of income is live TV deals. Live broadcast rights from 2023 to 2027 were sold for $6 billion. It is not just that IPL should be watched only on TV. The feature of watching

games is also available in other mediums. That's why last year's edition alone had a record 600 million views. Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru are the most popular teams. Their brand value is around $1.1 billion. These franchise teams themselves earn in crores. These include ticket sales, merchandise and business deals. The amount of sponsorship contracts also accounts for a large share. Indian restaurant and hospitality business grows by 40 percent during

competitions. Last year, hotels in Chennai and Jaipur had a record of 100 percent booking. During the competition, the restaurant and transportation sector will be directly benefited. The Indian government itself is getting rich from the competition. The tax collected from the sale of

tournament tickets, advertisements and other sports-related materials is 3,500 crores. Even though there was nothing directly or indirectly during the competition, more than 150,000 people got a job. Because of the IPL, the construction of physical infrastructure related to the tournament in India is also gaining momentum. And the team that will be the champion will get 23 million 20 thousand dollars. The runner-up said only 1.5 million dollars.

The record of the most expensive players is breaking. The IPL is the tournament that introduced the player auction format. This auction has made players rich overnight. Until a few decades ago, cricket was not a very lucrative sport for players.

Even in India, the status of cricket players was miserable with few exceptions. However, because of IPL, cricket players are earning like other major sports players. Foreign players have also earned fame by playing in the IPL. That is why, even in the midst of such controversies, most of the star players have not criticized the IPL. Players from England and Australia have also earned their entire lifetime by playing IPL for one season. If the

returns again in the November auction, the most expensive player this time is wicketkeeper/batter Rishabh Pant. He is the captain of Lucknow Super Giants. His name was valued at 32 million dollars. Shreyas Iyer fetched $3170,000 before he was sold for that amount.

He was bought by Punjab Kings for such a huge amount. England's aggressive batsman Jos Buttler is among the highest-priced foreign players. Gujarat Titans set such a price for him. Because of getting so much salary, some players stopped playing for their country and started focusing only on IPL. Nowadays, playing IPL is more profitable business for any player than playing international cricket for his country.

Some decisive aspects

Cricket pundits have also speculated about three such modes, which may prove to be decisive as the tournament progresses. One of them is the fitness of Mumbai bowler Jasprit Bumrah. He has not been very active since January due to injury. But he is the most influential bowler in white ball cricket.

He is expected to take the field for Mumbai after a few early games. If he is able to play to his full potential, it will be a huge achievement for Mumbai. If he is absent from the tournament for a long time or if he simply fails to live up to his reputation, it will prove fatal for Mumbai. Not only him, Kohli's performance with the bat will also prove decisive.

What is special is that in the previous 17 editions, Bengaluru has always been considered a strong team. Many predict Bengaluru to win the title. But both Bengaluru and Kohli have come close to success. As big a name as Kohli is in international cricket, he has yet to win an IPL title. Again he is nearing the end of his playing career.