Techies in India's IT hub will play their version of 20-20 cricket in March to promote team spirit in the ICT (information, communication and technology) industry.

'The IT20 Indian League is a cricket tournament being held to support the ICT fraternity, protect its image and pay tribute to the industry's success in Karnataka in times of slowdown,' Principal Secretary M. N. Vidyashankar told reporters here.

The tournament, to be held March 1-22 here in association with the state department of youth services and sports, will have a total prize money of Rs.1 million (Rs 10 million). The winner will be awarded Rs 0.5 million (Rs.5 lakh) and the runner-up Rs.250,000. The balance will be shared by man of the match and man of the series.

'The ICT sector is the crowning glory of the Indian economy and lifted India's reputation the world over with a double-digit growth over a decade. With global recession slowing down its growth, the fraternity needs to be kept motivated in these testing times with a popular sport like cricket in the Twenty20 format,' said Vidyashankar, on deputation to the state election commission as chief electoral officer.

'As cricket is a great game to play as a cohesive unit in team spirit, we hope such activities will enable their firms to keep them motivated in these hard times,' the official added.

Five corporate houses - Yahoo! India, MphaSis, Procall, Synova and Wipro - have joined the Indian League. More firms are expected to join.