IPL: An inside story. Cricket & Commerce

Book excerpt: Much like its commissioner Mr Lalit Modi, IPL from the very beginning has always been mired in controversies of all imaginable kinds. From Vijay Mallyas sacking of the team coach Charu Sharma for the teams poor performance in season one to the grand auction of international players for season two in Fort Aguda Beach Resort in Goa, Modi has been able to keep the interest alive by successfully marrying money with sports. This is a new kind of cricket, where players are auctioned and teams and players are owned by frnanchise owners. But this is also the cricket where players from U-19 get a chance to play with Sachin Tendulkar or Shane Warne. IPL: An Inside Story takes a look at almost all the aspects of IPL from who actually first thought of such a tournament to the process of choosing the franchise owners, and from the socio-economic impact of the IPL on Indian society to the politics of shifting the venue of season two to South Africa.