I'm thrilled to see the current statistics. Chennai lost to Bangalore, chasing a very low score. Delhi won a thriller against Mumbai, thanks to Dinesh Karthik. Mumbai lost to Rajasthan, a very close match and a interesting one. It means, Delhi with 15 points confirmed its berth to Semi's. Now, will Chennai make it to Semi's? Or, if they loose this match, does their Semi final berth depend on how the Mumbai do against Bangalore. I would expect Mumbai to make it to Semi's and to make it an interesting contest.

The way Shewag and Gambhir bats,  McGrath and co bowl, I will be surprised if they do not win the cup. Rajasthan is doing very good so far, I'm not sure if they will carry forward. Punjab batting line is exceptional, but i'm not impressed about their bowling department. They go for as many runs and make their batsman life tougher. If they bowl first, they would make a good contest. Mumbai, if Jayasurya is out before the 5th over, we could predict the low final score. Other than Jayasurya, I do not see any other competent batsman in the team. With all these constraints, i would love if Delhi win the Cup.

I know Sachin is there in Mumbai, but I do not think he is quick enough to adopt to this format of game. Comparing all class A senior players, Dravid, Laxman, Sachin and Ganguly, I think Ganguly is outstanding. As a batsman, and in few matches as a bowler, his performance is exceptionally good. But as a captain, he did not see through his team to Semi final. Dravid also did well as a batsman, but failed miserably as a captain.

I still do not find a reason why Deccan is not winning matches

Indian Premier League

For a while, it was not clear for me how Indian Premier League (IPL) works. Who is spending money, how they earn and what happens behind the scene. After reading couple of articles in newspapers and over the internet, I think I understood how it works. Herewith I summarize the details about IPL based on what I know so far.

The Board of Cricket Council in India (BCCI) is the chief organizer for this event. The BCCI chairman have chosen the teams considering the awareness to cricket in those states. They have also got the nod from International Cricket Council (ICC) to involve the international players. Since BCCI is one of leading contributor to ICC in terms of fame and money, the ICC took the responsibility to convince appropriate cricket boards to allow their players participate in this tournament.

The BCCI have prepared the list of teams and list of players who would play in this tournament. They announce a tender to sell each team. The interested parties, corporates, business men and actors came forward to own the team. They paid the lump sum amount to BCCI to purchase the team. Next BCCI conducted the auction to purchase the players. The team owners again selected the talented players and purchased them with a lump sum amount. The part of this amount, I think goes to BCCI as they are one who conducted the auction.

I'm thinking the duration of the contract with the players is for one year. During coming years, depending on how they play they may either find a place in current team or, they would be bought out by other teams for larger amount. On the other hand, the BCCI have sold the TV rights for Sony Max for broadcasting all the matches live. Now, the bigger question how do everyone of them earn the money. Here is my understanding on this subject.

EARNINGS

BCCI -- You may have noted that BCCI have already earned a huge amount from the owners when they purchased the team. It also got a huge amount from Sony max for broadcasting the matches.

Team Owners -- They get amount if the team win the match. They get some amount everytime their team win. They get a lump-sum in case their team wins in the final. In addition, they get additional amount from team sponsors. In case of Kolkata Knight Riders, it is NOKIA. In few cases, the team owners themselves sponsor the team, for example, Bangalore Royal Challengers. The King Fisher Vijay Mallya is the owner of the team and King Fisher is the sponsor for the team. I think they do not lose even if their team loose the match, because their primary goal is to project their brand. It is achieved when their team is on field whether they loose or win.

Sony Max -- The entity which has the TV right to broadcast all the matches. Without any question, they get money from the Advertisements.

Ground owners -- They earn by collecting entry ticket from the audience who watch the match. In addition, they may get a amount from BCCI for organizing the match.

Players -- They get paid by their Team owners when they are purchased in the auction. In addition, probably they may get a bonus in case the team win the match. Also if they get Man or Match or Man of Series award, it is a bonus.

DLF -- The chief sponsor for this tournament. They have paid BCCI for sponsoring this event. They also pay for the prize money for the winning team, Man of match, Man of series.

Umpires and Referees -- They would be paid by the BCCI.

SPENDINGS

BCCI -- The BCCI would have paid ICC for allowing international players participate in this tournament. It pays the ground owners for organizing the event. It also pay for the match umpires and referres. Overall, the spending is lesser than the earnings obviously.

Team Owners -- They pay BCCI for purchasing the team. The pay individual players to play for their team. The corporates are in a win-win situation even if their team loose because, their primary goal is to project their brand. In case of individuals like Sharukh Khan, Preeti Zindha, they are hear to earn. I think, it is a riskier attempt for them. If their team loose more times, they they do win, I guess they would be a looser.

Sony Max -- The technological effort it has taken for broadcasting the matches. As usual, they should pay their technicians, Commentators, as they conduct the match.

Ground Owners -- The effort they put to maintain the stadium and pitches.

Players -- Time and their presence.

DLF -- They take responsibility for the prize money.

Umpires and Referees -- Time and their presence.

This is just my understanding about this tournament. So which team I'm going to support for. No one!