Multiplex screening of IPL-4 matches unlikely

The coming season of the Indian Premier League cricket tournament may not be screened at multiplex cinema halls.

Said an official of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), on condition of anonymity: “There has been no decision yet. The matches may not be screened this year.” Though BCCI will not say so formally, the problem is former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, removed after various questions were raised on the way he managed the outfit. All contracts he had signed are being examined, among these the worldwide Rs 330-crore theatrical rights contract signed with Entertainment and Sports Direct in 2009, for 10 years.


As the tournament progresses, said the BCCI functionary, they may possibly look at screening the quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final to select multiplex and single-screen theatres. IPL is scheduled to start on April 8, a week after the curtains come down on the ongoing World Cup tourney.

Sources in the film exhibition business said the BCCI was yet to make any formal communication. “ From the meeting we have had, the matches will not be telecast this year,” said a UFO Moviez company official. UFO Moviez had the rights for satellite transmission of IPL matches in theatres and, in last year’s tournament, had shown these in around 700 screens across India.

“We have started getting corporate queries for IPL, but since we did not have any answer from BCCI on this, we have not done any packages,” said a senior official from Cinemax.

IPL matches in theatres last year got lukewarm response, with most operators having failed to break even. According to multiplex owners, the occupancy rate for these matches were 15-20 per cent, with the semi-finals and finals getting a little better response due to the 3D-viewing.

Typically, during the IPL season, Bollywood does not take chances with big-budget films but takes advantage of the dry spell to release a few small and medium budget films. This year, however, April and May are packed with two-three releases every week.

IPL Auction Concludes After Busy Second Day

The second and final day of the auction ahead of the 2011 Indian Premier League competition has concluded, with all ten franchises continuing to spend big to finalise their squads.

Only 12 players were retained before the auction and Gautam Gambhir, who was picked up by the Kolkata Knight Riders for $US 2.4 million, proved to be the most expensive purchase as no player topped the $US 1 million-mark on the second day.

The Indian board (BCCI) has also confirmed the format of the 2011 tournament, which includes ten teams for the first time although teams will not play each time home and away, resulting in a tournament containing 70 matches.

"Each team will play seven matches at home, and seven away," a statement from the BCCI confirmed.

"Each team has nine opponents. Each side will play five of those at home and away, will play two at home only, and will play the remaining two away only. This will produce a total of seventy league matches.

"The season will commence as scheduled on Friday, 8 April 2011, and will conclude with the IPL final on Saturday, 28 May 2011. There will be one league table, as in previous years, and the top four teams at the end of the league stage will qualify for the play-off matches.

"There will be four play-off matches, as previously announced. Which team plays which opponents (home and away / home only / away only) will be determined by a random draw."

Below is a list of the franchises' purchases (prices in $US dollars).

Chennai Super Kings:  Ravichandran Ashwin (850,000), Subramaniam Badrinath (800,000), Doug Bollinger (700,000), Michael Hussey (425,000), Dwayne Bravo (200,000), Wriddhaman Saha (100,000), Scott Styris (200,000), Ben Hilfenhaus (100,000), Joginder Sharma (150,000), Nuwan Kulasekara (100,000), Sudeep Tyagi (240,000), Suraj Randiv (80,000), George Bailey (50,000), Francois du Plessis (120,000)

Deccan Chargers: JP Duminy (300,000), Shikhar Dhawan (300,000), Kevin Pietersen (650,000), Kumar Sangakkara (700,000), Cameron White (1.1 million), Ishant Sharma (450,000), Dale Steyn (1.2 million), Pragyan Ojha (500,000), Amit Mishra (300,000), Daniel Christian (900,000), Manpreet Gony (290,000), Chris Lynn (20,000), Juan Theron (85,000), Michael Lumb (80,000),

Delhi Daredevils: Naman Ojha (270,000), James Hopes (350,000), David Warner (750,000), Irfan Pathan (1.9 million), Morne Morkel (475,000), Aaron Finch (300,000), Matthew Wade (100,000), Ajit Agarkar (210,000), Ashok Dinda (375,000), Umesh Yadav (750,000), Roelof van der Merwe (50,000), Yalaka Venugopal Rao (700,000), Andrew McDonald (80,000), Travis Birt (20,000), Colin Ingram (100,000), Robert Frylinck (20,000)

Kings XI Punjab: Shaun Marsh (400,000), Stuart Broad (400,000), Abhishek Nayar (800,000), Adam Gilchrist (900,000), Dinesh Karthik (900,000), David Hussey (1.4 million), Praveen Kumar (800,000), Ryan Harris (325,000), Piyush Chawla (900,000), Dimitri Mascarenhas (100,000), Nathan Rimmington (20,000),

Kochi: Mahela Jayawardene (1.5 million), Ravindra Jadeja (950,000), Shanthakumaran Sreesanth (900,000), RP Singh (500,000), Brendon McCullum (475,000), VVS Laxman (400,000), Parthiv Patel (290,000), Steven Smith (200,000), Muttiah Muralitharan (1.1 million), Ramesh Powar (180,000), Brad Hodge (425,000), Tissara Perera (80,000), Ranganath Vinay Kumar (475,000), Stephen O'Keeffe (20,000), Owais Shah (200,000), Michael Klinger (75,000), John Hastings (20,000)

Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (2.4 million), Yusuf Pathan (2.1 million), Jacques Kallis (1.1 million), Shakib Al Hasan (425,000), Brad Haddin (325,000), Brett Lee (400,000), Eoin Morgan (350,000), Manoj Tiwary (475,000), Lakshmipathy Balaji (500,000), Jaidev Unadkat (250,000), Ryan ten Doeschate (150,000), James Pattinson (100,000)

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (2 million), Andrew Symonds (850,000), Davey Jacobs (190,000), James Franklin (100,000), Munaf Patel (700,000), Clint McKay (110,000), Moises Henriques (50,000), Aiden Blizzard (20,000)

Pune Warriors: Robin Uthappa (2.1 million), Yuvraj Singh (1.8 million), Angelo Mathews (950,000), Graeme Smith (500,000), Tim Paine (270,000), Ashish Nehra (850,000), Nathan McCullum (100,000), Callum Ferguson (300,000). Wayne Parnell (160,000), Mitchell Marsh (290,000), Jerome Taylor (100,000), Alfonso Thomas (100,000), Jesse Ryder (150,000), Murali Kartik (400,000)

Rajasthan Royals: Ross Taylor (1 million), Johan Botha (950,000), Rahul Dravid (500,000), Paul Collingwood (250,000), Shaun Tait (300,000), Pankaj Singh (95,000)

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Saurabh Tiwary (1.6 million), AB de Villiers (1.1 million), Zaheer Khan (900,000), Tillakaratne Dilshan (650,000), Daniel Vettori (550,000), Dirk Nannes (650,000), Cheteshwar Pujara (700,000), Charl Langeveldt (140,000), Luke Pomersbach (50,000), Abhimanyu Mithun (260,000), Johannes van der Wath (50,000), Rilee Rossouw (20,000), Nuwan Pradeep (20,000), Jonathan Vandiar (20,000), Mohammad Kaif (130,000)