- 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 of20 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 forMumbai Indians ,Sourav Ganguly forKolkata Knight Riders ,Rahul Dravid forRoyal Challengers Bangalore , andYuvraj Singh forKings XI Punjab . Later, on the request ofDelhi Daredevils , Virender Sehwag's name was added to the list.Deccan Chargers also asked for Icon Player status to be given toVVS Laxman , but he declined the offer in order to allow the franchise to spend more money on other players and still not breach theUS$ 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 whyMumbai Indians could not compete withChennai Super Kings forMahendra Singh Dhoni .Fact|date=May 2008List of icon players
*
Sachin Tendulkar forMumbai Indians
*Rahul Dravid forRoyal Challengers Bangalore
*Sourav Ganguly forKolkata Knight Riders
*Yuvraj Singh forKings XI Punjab
*Virender Sehwag forDelhi Daredevils ee also
Indian Premier League External links
* [http://www.indianpremierleague.com/ Official Indian Premier League Site]
References
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