A Kiran of hope for ICL

Kiran More has never been known to mince his words. He was chairman of the board of selectors when Greg Chappell was cricket coach and the whole Chappell-Ganguly saga unfolded. Now on the executive board of the Essel group-backed Indian Cricket league (ICL), he is confident about ICL benefiting the game in the long run, even with powerful competition from the BCCI-backed Indian Premier League, which began its run this week. AABHAS SHARMA spoke with him about the short but so-far eventful journey of ICL.

How would you rate the first few months of the Indian Cricket League? Have things gone according to plan and met your expectations?

To be honest with you, the first season was a bit low-key. The people didn't know what it was all about and there was a bit of scepticism, and rightly so. But the second edition has been a success in terms of number of players coming, increase in revenues, as well as the number of sponsors.

In terms of cricket also, we have got three more venues and the pool of players has also increased. So we are positive about the future and hopeful that it will help Indian cricket.

With the BCCI not adopting a friendly stance towards the ICL, what future does an Indian domestic player in ICL have?

At the end of the day, we are here to play cricket. And we want the players to represent their country. I can give you a lot of examples of players who weren't picked for their domestic side but have been a revelation.

We hope the ICL provides such players a platform to showcase their talent and in such a way that the BCCI can't ignore them.

Of course, the media too will have to play an important role in that. You can't deny any player a right to play if he is good enough. So we are hopeful that talented Indian cricketers would play for India as well.

Also, next on our agenda is setting up academies all across the country to find and nurture talent. I know it's a mammoth task, but we are positive about the future of ICL. It's unfortunate about the BCCI's stance but we would continue to fight it out and provide youngsters a platform to showcase their talent.

Who are these cricketers? Can you name a few of them?

R Sathish has been a revelation and is a talented player. If he continues to perform the way he has been, he looks to have a bright future. So do Abhishek Jhunjhunwala and Stuart Binny.

All these guys have tremendous potential and if they continue to do well, I don't see why they shouldn't be picked for the national team as well. They are getting a chance to rub shoulders with international-level cricketers, something which would benefit them in the long run.

The IPL is just around the corner. With big names, from on and off the pitch, being a part of it, how do you see it affecting the ICL?

The fact that we have had full houses for a lot of our matches, [that] the pool of players is increasing and [that] we have more venues than we started out [with], gives me full confidence that we will continue to do well.

But people have to understand that this is not something which can be an overnight success. We have our plans on paper and we are heading in the right direction. We will continue to work for the benefit of cricket in the country.

What are these plans that you mentioned?

Like I said, opening academies is definitely high up on the list. It is an integral part of our plan. But I have to say it again, it's not something which will happen overnight. We knew when we got into this [that] time would be the most crucial thing. But the best part is that we now have a solid platform and we need to build on it.

How do you see the future panning out for ICL?

Hopefully good. And there is no reason to believe otherwise. We have seen the interest from all sides "" and by that I mean financial [as well as] sporting "" increasing. We have increased the number of teams, venues, players, as well as increased the prize money.

We have got players from countries like Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan coming in, and we hope that we continue to work for the development of the game in a better and responsible manner.