ICL: Race against time

Like sentinels at the gate, the distant Shivalik foothills stood like passive observers to the hectic activity at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium here on Wednesday. They must have seen the race against time to prepare the bed for the latest baby - the Indian Cricket League (ICL) - which will arrive on India's cricket firmament in just a day's time.

Gangs of workers, television crew, ground staff, ICL top brass and all those who are part of the show had anxiety written on their faces, just like expectant parents in hospital corridors. Yet, there was that certain smugness in their demeanour that comes from defying the diktat of the Big Brother.

The ground on which 20 Twenty-20 ICL games will be played is still bumpy in a few places; patches of bald earth peeped through the carpet of grass in a few areas and fine dust swirled in the air when the lawn mower was brought to work. But in the midst of all this former India wicketkeeper and executive board member of ICL, Kiran More, painted a picture of quiet confidence. "By 5pm on the 30th evening everything will be in place. If not, then you can go ahead and criticise us for failing to deliver. But that won't happen. Even the dust will settle and the ground will be in perfect condition for cricket," More said.

Right through the day six teams had sessions in the two nets and at the ground. The last to come were the Mumbai Champs, led by the legendary Brian Lara. After a quick inspection of the wicket and the ground they went for regular practice under the eyes of coach Sandeep Patil.

The arrival of Lara must have been a huge relief for the men behind this idea, especially after the gossip mills adding grist to the talk of the West Indian jumping ship in light of BCCI's unabashed courting of the genius for their proposed IPL. "I used to have a daily laugh with him over the phone regarding all the speculation. I knew he would be coming as I was sure he would be honouring his contract," said Himanshu Modi, project head of ICL.

Before Lara & Co, Kolkata Tigers sweated it out for a couple of hours. All attention, and naturally so, was on South African Lance Klusener, whose erstwhile teammate, Gary Kirsten, is likely to be appointed Team India's coach. When asked about the development, the all-rounder said it is perhaps the biggest challenge in the career of the former South African opener. "It's a big responsibility as he will be coaching one of the biggest teams in world cricket. There will be pressure on him," he said.

But the hard hitting cricketer was more keen to talk about the task at hand. "I think ICL is a great idea. For one it gives a very good platform to young unknown talent to show their wares on the big stage. I think we are seeing the evolution of cricket here," Klusener said.

ICL is not just about the simple game of bat and ball; the promoters want to make it a complete entertainment package with Bollywood star appeal. Big ticket silver screen performers like, Kareena Kapoor, Yana Gupta, Aamir Khan and Akshay Kumar will light up the stadium at the inaugural function.

Also, the 'rebels' will use the opportunity to show the political blessing for their venture. "Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and railways minister Lalu Prasad Yadav will also attend the function," Modi said.
So, let's wait for the first day, first show for the fun, games and even bigger games to begin.

Source : http://cricket.indiatimes.com/