Icon player

In the Indian Premier League, an icon player is a player who can only play for his home city in the competition. Each team is assigned at most one icon player. Unlike all the other players initially recruited by teams, the icon players were not bid for in the player auction of 20 February 2008. The salary of each icon player is 15% more than the next highest earner in their team. [ [http://content-www.cricinfo.com/ipl/content/story/337776.html Cricinfo - IPL to decide on 'icon' status for Sehwag and Laxman ] ]

Introduction

Initially there were four Icon Players designated by the Indian Premier League organizing committee. Sachin Tendulkar for Mumbai Indians, Sourav Ganguly for Kolkata Knight Riders, Rahul Dravid for Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Yuvraj Singh for Kings XI Punjab. Later, on the request of Delhi Daredevils, Virender Sehwag's name was added to the list. Deccan Chargers also asked for Icon Player status to be given to VVS Laxman, but he declined the offer in order to allow the franchise to spend more money on other players and still not breach the US$5 million salary cap. [ [http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080221/jsp/sports/story_8930131.jsp The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Sports | Laxman truly is special ] ] The purpose behind designating the Icon Players is to ensure that top draw players will represent their respective city sides, which is important for the league to increase fan support and interest among the locals.

It has been reported that all the franchises with icon players felt that having the icon player was a handicap in the player auction, as the money spent on the icon resulted in less room under the salary cap to purchase other players. [ [http://cricket.indiatimes.com/Icons_proved_a_handicap_complain_IPL_franchisees/articleshow/2802685.cms Icons proved a handicap, complain IPL franchisees - News - News - Indiatimes Cricket ] ] For example, the presence of Sachin Tendulkar as an icon was cited as the main reason why Mumbai Indians could not compete with Chennai Super Kings for Mahendra Singh Dhoni.Fact|date=May 2008

List of icon players

*Sachin Tendulkar for Mumbai Indians
*Rahul Dravid for Royal Challengers Bangalore
*Sourav Ganguly for Kolkata Knight Riders
*Yuvraj Singh for Kings XI Punjab
*Virender Sehwag for Delhi Daredevils

ee also

Indian Premier League

External links

* [http://www.indianpremierleague.com/ Official Indian Premier League Site]

References