Cricket, the most passionate game in India, is at the heart of every Indian. It is like an unspoken religion, bonding citizens irrespective of caste or creed, language or belief. Every boy in school and every sports lover from the Indian sub-continent aspires to be a cricketer like Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev or Ravi Shastri, to name a few. Legends in cricket have instilled and encouraged this game that has taken it to new heights and new venues; one aspect seen in the creation of the Indian Premier League.

The man instrumental in the formation of the Indian Premier League (aka IPL) is Lalit Modi, Vice President of the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI). The IPL was born out of retaliation to the Indian Cricket League (ICL) by Zee Group and formatted or planned along the lines of the English Premier League featuring football in Europe.

Every since its conception in 2008, the IPL has been growing in popularity and demand. The Twenty-20 became a roaring success and more and more votes are in favor of this short version of the game; full of suspense, fast paced action and rush of adrenaline.

The IPL consists of eight teams, named after different states / regions/ prominent enterprises in India. Each team, as per rules, is made up of a minimum sixteen players, where eight players are from international teams. A minimum of eight players are from the local region and a minimum of two players are from the BCCI’s under 22.

The IPL-3 2010 is scheduled for March 12th 2010 and spans a period of 45 days with coverage of 60 matches. Venues for the matches are spread across many locations in different states. Bidding for the players was held in January 2010 where M. S. Dhoni, the prime catch and captain of Chennai Super Kings was bid the highest with a value of Rs. 6.0 crores followed by Sachin Tendulakar at Rs. 4.85 crores.

A list of the IPL’s teams are noted below.

* Rajasthan Royals: (winner of IPL 2008)

Owned by Emerging Media Group, Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra

* Deccan Chargers: (winner of IPL 2009)

Owned by Venkat Ram Reddy, Deccan Chronicle.

* Mumbai Indians: owned by Mukesh Ambani, Reliance Industries Ltd.

* Royal Challengers Bangalore: Owned by Vijay Mallya, UB Group

* Delhi Daredevils: Owned by Akshay Kumar and GMR Holdings

* Kolkota Knight Riders: Owned by Shah Rukh Khan, Red Chillies Entertainment

* Chennai Super Kings: Owned by N. Srinivasan of India Cements

* Kings XI Punjab: Owned by Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia of Bombay Dyeing, Karan Paul of Apeejay Surendra Group and Mohit Burman of Dabur

Article originally posted at:

Indian Premier League 2010

Learn more about this author, Amanda Dcosta.