Background

The Indian Cricket League (ICL) was founded in 2007 with funding provided by Zee Entertainment Enterprises.^[21] The ICL was not recognised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) or the International Cricket Council (ICC), and the BCCI was unhappy about its own committee members joining the ICL executive board.^[22] To prevent players from joining the ICL, the BCCI increased the prize money associated with its domestic tournaments and imposed lifetime bans on any player joining the rival league, which the BCCI considered a rebel league.^[23][24]

Foundation

A match during the 2008 IPL inaugural season in Chennai

On 13 September 2007,^[25] following India's victory at the 2007 T20 World Cup,^[26] the BCCI announced a franchise-based Twenty20 cricket (T20) competition called the Indian Premier League. The first season was scheduled to start in April 2008 in a "high-profile ceremony" at New Delhi. BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi, who led the IPL effort, provided details of the tournament, including its format, prize money, franchise revenue system, and squad composition rules. The new league, which would be run by a seven-man governing council, would also be the qualifying mechanism for that year's Champions League Twenty20.^[25]

To determine team ownership, an auction of franchises was held on 24 January 2008; the reserve prices of the eight franchises totalled $400 million,^[24] although the auction raised a total of $723.59 million.^[27] As a result of the ban imposed on players opting to participate in the ICL, the rival league closed down in 2009.^[28][29]

Expansions and terminations

Crowd during a match of the 2023 IPL season in Kolkata

New franchises Pune Warriors India and Kochi Tuskers Kerala joined the league before the fourth season in 2011.^[30] Sahara Adventure Sports Group bought the Pune franchise for $370 million while Rendezvous Sports World bought the Kochi franchise for $333.3 million.^[30] The Kochi franchise was terminated after only one season when they failed to pay the BCCI the 10% bank guarantee element of the franchise.^[31]

In September 2012, after failing to find new owners, the Deccan Chargers franchise agreement was terminated.^[32] In October, an auction for a replacement franchise was held; Sun TV Network won the bid for what became the Hyderabad franchise;^[33] the team was named Sunrisers Hyderabad.^[34]

Pune Warriors India withdrew from the IPL in May 2013 over financial differences with the BCCI.^[35] The BCCI officially terminated the franchise in October, and the league reverted to eight teams.^[36]

In June 2015, two-time champions Chennai Super Kings and the inaugural season champions Rajasthan Royals were suspended for two seasons following their role in a spot-fixing and betting scandal.^[37] The two teams were replaced for two seasons by franchises based at Pune and Rajkot.^[38][39]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the venue for the 2020 season was moved and games were played in the United Arab Emirates.^[40][41] In August 2021, the BCCI announced two new franchises, based in two of six shortlisted cities, would join the league in the 2022 season.^[42][43] In closed bidding held in October, RPSG Group and CVC Capital won the bids for the teams, paying ₹7,000 crore (US$880 million) and ₹5,200 crore (US$650 million).^[44][45] The teams were subsequently named Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans.

A number of IPL franchise owners have expanded their business by acquiring teams in other franchise leagues, such as the South African SA20, the Caribbean Premier League and the US Major League Cricket. Teams have been branded with similar names to their parent IPL franchises.^[46]

Player acquisition, squad composition, and salaries

A team can acquire players through the annual player auction, trading with other teams during trading windows, and signing replacements for unavailable players. Players sign up for the auction^[50] and set their base price and are bought by the highest-bidding franchise. Players unsold at the auction are eligible to be signed as replacement signings. In the trading windows, a player can only be traded with consent; the franchise pays any difference between the old and new contracts. If the new contract is worth more than the old one, the player and the selling franchise share the difference. There are generally three trading windows – two before the auction and one between the auction and the start of the tournament. Players cannot be traded outside the trading windows or during the tournament, whereas replacements can be signed before or during the tournament.

Some of the rules for franchises, as of the 2020 season, are:

• The salary cap of the entire squad must not exceed ₹85 crore (US$11 million).^[51]
• Under-19 players cannot be picked unless they have previously played first-class or List A cricket.^[52]

Player contracts run for one year; the franchise can extend the contract by one or two years. Since the 2014 season, player contracts have been denominated in the Indian rupee, before which the contracts were in the US dollar. Overseas players can be remunerated in the currency of the player's choice at the exchange rate on either the contract-due date or the actual payment date.^[53] Before the 2014 season, Indian domestic players were not included in the player auction pool. They could be signed up by franchises at a discrete amount while a fixed sum of ₹10 lakh (US$13,000) to ₹30 lakh (US$38,000) would be deducted per signing from the franchise's salary purse. This received significant opposition from franchise owners, who complained richer franchises were "luring players with under-the-table deals." The IPL later decided to include domestic players in the player auction.^[54]

The BCCI give 10% of foreign players' salary to their country's national cricket board.^[55]

According to a 2015 survey by Sporting Intelligence and ESPN The Magazine, the average IPL salary when pro-rated is US$4.33 million per year, the second-highest of sports leagues in the world. Because players in the IPL are contracted only for the duration of the tournament – less than two months – the weekly IPL salaries are extrapolated pro data to obtain an average annual salary, unlike other sports leagues in which players are contracted by a single team for the entire year.^[56]

According to a report by The Telegraph, IPL players are paid 18% of the revenue, which is the lowest amount compared to other major sports leagues. Most sports leagues pay the players at least 50% of the revenue. The Federation of International Cricketers' Associations said that IPL players must be paid fairly.^[57][58][59]

Prize money

The 2022 season of the IPL offered total prize money of ₹46.5 crore (equivalent to ₹49 crore or US$6.2 million in 2023), with the winning team netting ₹20 crore (equivalent to ₹21 crore or US$2.7 million in 2023) and the second-placed team ₹13 crore (equivalent to ₹14 crore or US$1.7 million in 2023).^[60][61] League rules mandate that half of any prize money must be distributed amongst the franchise's players.^[62]

Defunct teams

Timeline of teams

Present teams Former teams Suspended

Number of titles

^† Team now defunct

Finals

Orange Cap

The Orange Cap, introduced in 2008, is awarded to the highest run-scorer at the end of each season. It is an ongoing competition with the current highest-run scorer wearing the cap whilst fielding. The eventual winner keeps the cap for the season. Brendon McCullum was the first player to wear the Orange Cap and Shaun Marsh the inaugural winner of the award. Australian batsman David Warner has won the award three times, more than any other player.^[77] Shubman Gill of Gujarat Titans, who scored 890 runs during the 2023 season, is the most recent winner of the award.^[78][79]

Purple Cap

The Purple Cap is awarded to the highest wicket-taker at the end of each season. It is an ongoing competition and the bowler who is the leading wicket-taker wears a purple cap whilst fielding. The leading wicket-taker at the end of the season wins the award. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Dwayne Bravo are the only players to have won the award twice.^[80][81]

Most Valuable Player

The Most Valuable Player award, called the "Man of the Tournament" until the 2012 season, is awarded using a ratings system introduced in 2013. Shubman Gill won the award in 2023.

Fair Play Award

The Fair Play Award is given after each season to the team considered to have the best fair play record. After each match, the two on-field umpires and the third umpire score the performance of both teams, with the highest scoring team at the end of the season receiving the award.^[82] The 2023 winners were Delhi Capitals.

Emerging Player Award

The Emerging Player Award was presented to the best under-19 player in 2008 and the best under-23 player in 2009 and 2010. In 2011 and 2012, the award was known as "Rising Star of the Year," and in 2013 the "Best Young Player of the Season." Since 2014, the award has been called the Emerging Player of the Year.^[83] The 2023 winner was Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Maximum Sixes Award

The Maximum Sixes Award is presented to the player who hits the most sixes at the end of the season.^[84]

Title sponsorship

From 2008 to 2012, the IPL title sponsor was DLF, India's largest real estate developer, which bid ₹200 crore (US$25 million) for the rights for five seasons.^[86] After the 2012 season, PepsiCo bought the title sponsorship rights for ₹397 crore (US$50 million) for the next five seasons^[87] but terminated the deal in October 2015, two years before the expiry of the contract, due to the two-season suspension of the Chennai and Rajasthan franchises from the league.^[88] The BCCI transferred the title sponsorship rights for the remaining two seasons of the contract to Chinese smartphone manufacturer Vivo for ₹200 crore (US$25 million).^[89]

In June 2017, Vivo retained the rights for the next five seasons from 2018 to 2022 with a winning bid of ₹2,199 crore (US$280 million).^[90][91] On 4 August 2020, Vivo canceled the title sponsorship rights due to the military stand-off between India and China at the Line of Actual Control in July 2020.^[92] The withdrawal was also a result of Vivo's market losses due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; Vivo intended to return as the title sponsor for the following three years.^[93] Dream11 bagged the title sponsorship for the 2020 IPL for an amount of ₹222 crore (equivalent to ₹261 crore or US$33 million in 2023).^[94] Vivo returned as the title sponsor for the 2021 IPL season^[95] but withdrew again, and was replaced by the Tata Group for the next two seasons.^[96] InsideSport reported the BCCI would receive ₹498 crore (US$62 million) for the 2022 and 2023 seasons from title sponsors. Vivo had previously agreed to pay a higher amount for the last two seasons of its sponsorship contract due to the league's expansion from the 2022 season. According to InsideSport, due to the new deal's structure, Tata would pay ₹335 crore (US$42 million) per year while Vivo would pay the deficit of ₹163 crore (US$20 million) per season.^[97][98]

Saudi Aramco brought the rights to advertise on the Purple and Orange caps in 2022.^[99]

Payments to foreign national boards

The BCCI pays ten percent of the auctioned value of a player to their respective cricket board. In January 2018, IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla said the IPL would double the amount paid to cricket boards that made their players available for an entire season.^[100] In 2022, Australian Cricketers' Association expressed its unhappiness about this.^[101]

Brand value

The IPL tournament rapidly grew in value between 2016 and 2018. Financial experts valued the IPL at US$4.16 billion in 2016; that number grew to $5.3 billion in 2017 and $6.13 billion in 2018. A report from Duff & Phelps said one of the contributing factors in the rapid growth of the IPL's value was a new television deal with Star India Private Limited, which engaged more viewers because the IPL was transmitted to regional channels in eight languages; under the previous deal, the transmissions were limited to sports networks with English-language commentary.^[102][103]

According to an independent report conducted by Brand Finance, a London-based company, after the conclusion of the 2017 Indian Premier League, the IPL's business value grew by 37% to an all-time peak of $5.3 billion, exceeding the five-billion-dollar mark for the first time in a season. According to the company's director Savio D'Souza:

Now in its 11th season, the Indian Premier League is here to stay. The league has delivered financially for the players, franchisees, sponsors, and India as a whole, prompting a strong desire among stakeholders to value it appropriately. To ensure continued development, management, and team owners must explore innovative ways of engaging fans, clubs, and sponsors.^[104]

In December 2022, the IPL became a decacorn valued at US$10.9 billion, registering a 75% growth in dollar terms since 2020 when it was valued at $6.2 billion, according to a report by consulting firm D & P Advisory.^[16]

In 2022, the BCCI took insurance of ₹5,000 crore (US$630 million) for the IPL. This insurance policy involves all stakeholders, including broadcasters, ancillary services providers, and sponsors. The BCCI is covered in the case of any revenue losses due to weather, riots, and other unforeseen events.^[108]

2008–2017: Sony Pictures Networks

The IPL's broadcast rights were held by a partnership between Sony Pictures Networks (SPN) and World Sport Group (WSG) under a ten-year contract valued at US$1.03 billion; SPN held domestic rights in India while WSG handled international distribution.^[109][110] The initial plan was for twenty percent of these proceeds to go to the IPL, eight percent as prize money and seventy-two percent would be distributed to the franchisees from 2008 until 2012, after which the IPL would go public and list its shares.^[111] In March 2010, however, the IPL decided not to go public and list its shares.^[112] As of the 2016 season, Sony Max, Sony Six, and Sony ESPN served as the IPL's domestic broadcasters; Max and Six aired broadcasts with commentary in Hindi, SIX also aired broadcasts in Bengali, Tamil, Kannada and Telugu, while Sony ESPN aired broadcasts in English.^[113] SPN also produced Extraaa Innings T20, a combination of a post-match show with an entertainment talk show featuring celebrity guests.^[114][115]

The IPL became a major television property within India; Sony Max is typically the most-watched television channel in the country during the tournament,^[116] and by 2016, annual advertising revenue exceeded ₹12 billion (US$150 million). Viewership numbers were expected to increase further during the 2016 season due to the industry adoption of the new Broadcast Audience Research Council audience measurement system, which calculates viewership in both urban and rural markets rather than only urban markets.^[117][113]

2018–2022: Star Sports and Hotstar

On 4 September 2017, it was announced the IPL's then-current digital rights holder Star India had acquired the global media rights to the IPL under a five-year contract beginning in 2018.^[118] The contract was valued at ₹163.475 billion (US$2.55 billion), a 158% increase over the previous deal, and the most expensive broadcast rights deal in the history of cricket. The IPL sold the rights in packages for domestic television, domestic digital, and international rights; although Sony held the highest bid for domestic television and Facebook made a US$600 million bid for domestic digital rights – which US media interpreted as a sign Facebook was interested in pursuing professional sports rights – ^[119][120] Star was the only bidder from the shortlist of 14 to make bids in all three categories.^{[121][122][123]}

Star Sports broadcast matches on television and Hotstar streamed matches in India and other markets.^[124][125] In September 2018, Star and mobile carrier Jio reached a five-year sub-licencing agreement under which all domestic cricket matches aired by Hotstar would also be available via the Jio TV service for Jio Prime mobile subscribers.^[126] Throughout the 2019 season, international streaming viewership on Hotstar broke records, exceeding 10 million concurrent viewers multiple times. The 2019 final broke these records, peaking at 18.6 million concurrent streaming viewers.^[127]

2023–2027: Star Sports and JioCinema

The next cycle of IPL media rights will last from 2023 to 2027 and was put to auction.^[128] In this auction, the broadcasting rights were divided into four packages. Package A was for domestic television rights, and Package B was for domestic digital rights. Package C was for the digital rights of eighteen non-exclusive matches, and Package D was for international television and digital rights, further divided into four groups. On 13 June 2022, it was reported the packages for domestic television and streaming rights had fetched at least ₹397.75 billion (nearly US$5.1 billion) in total, doubling the value of the 2018–2022 contract.^[128]

The next day, it was announced that Star Sports had renewed its contract for television rights by winning package A, and that a Viacom18 consortium had exclusively acquired the streaming rights by winning both Package B and C.^[129] The two contracts for Package A and B are cumulatively valued at around US$6.2 billion; with the new contracts, the IPL overtook the Premier League in English football as the second highest-valued sports media property worldwide, behind only the NFL, whose new media contracts taking effect in the 2023 season cumulatively fetched US$111 billion.^{[130][131][132][133]}

In February 2023, Viacom18 announced it would stream the 2023 IPL for free on JioCinema with feeds in 12 languages, including English and regional languages, and in 4K resolution.^{[134][135][136]} The same month, The Walt Disney Company reported its loss of the IPL had contributed to a net loss of 2.4 million Disney+ subscribers worldwide, primarily in India.^[137][138]

Ahead of the 2023 IPL, Star launched HD feeds of Star Sports 1 in Tamil and Telugu and announced its free-to-air channel Star Utsav Movies would carry twelve matches. It was anticipated viewership of Star Sports' broadcasts may not be heavily impacted by the Jio deal due to its existing market reach (including as rights holder of India's home matches) and viewers who preferred linear television due to being less familiar with over-the-top services, or concerns over technical issues associated with such services. JioCinema reported the IPL had 1.4 billion views on the service over the opening weekend, which was higher than the entirety of the 2022 season on Disney+ Hotstar.^[139][140] The 2023 final set a record for the most concurrent viewers of a livestreamed event, peaking at over 32 million viewers (surpassing a record of 25.3 million set by Hotstar during the 2019 Cricket World Cup).^[141][142]

List of broadcasters

In June 2022 media-rights auction, Sky Sports and Viacom18 acquired the rights for the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, while Times Internet gained the rights for the Middle East, North Africa, and the US.^[143]

IPL spot fixing

In the 2012 IPL spot-fixing case, the BCCI gave a lifetime ban to Deccan Chargers player TP Sudhindra and suspended four other players.^[147] In a sting operation, Pune Warriors India player Mohnish Mishra was recorded stating that IPL franchise owners pay their players through black money. Mishra had apologized for his incorrect statement.^[148][149] On 20 May 2012, police detained Rahul Sharma and Wayne Parnell when they were caught during a raid at a rave party at a suburb of Mumbai; both the players denied taking drugs or drinking alcohol.^[150] However, it was later proven that in reality, they had taken banned drugs after police tested their urine and blood samples in a lab.^[151]

In the 2013 IPL spot-fixing and betting case, Delhi police arrested players Ajit Chandila, Ankeet Chavan and S. Sreesanth on allegations of spot-fixing; they received a lifetime ban from the BCCI. Police also arrested Gurunath Meiyappan, Chennai Super Kings' team principal and son-in-law of then BCCI president N. Srinivasan, for illegally betting on IPL matches and passing team information to the bookmakers.^[152][153]

The Lodha Committee, appointed by the Supreme Court of India, banned Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for two years. The CSK's team principal Meiyappan was found guilty of betting and bringing the IPL and the game into disrepute. After this, the BCCI banned Meiyappan from involving in the game. Justice RM Lodha said that due to all this fixing-betting matter, the reputation of the game has been hurt quite grievously. "Disrepute has been brought to cricket, the BCCI and the IPL to such an extent that there are doubts abound in the public whether the game is clean or not," Justice Lodha said. He further elaborated his Committee's observations and said it had proved beyond doubt that Gurunath Meiyappan, the CSK's team principal, was heavily involved in betting on his team.^[154]

Strategic timeouts

In its 3rd season in 2010, the IPL administration brought a new rule: "strategic timeout" of seven minutes and fifty seconds duration in each inning. Franchises and Sachin Tendulkar disapproved of it. Many saw it as the BCCI's use of 'extended drinks break' to earn money; it faced widespread backlash.^[155][156] Then IPL president said that the rule is intended to allow teams to make strategies amid the game. Still, critics disagreed with this argument and said that the strategic time-out is a way to generate money. Later, the BCCI reduced its duration but still applied it.^[156]

These timeouts boost the IPL's revenue; every 10-second slot gets sold for ₹5 lakhs or more.^[155][157] Due to these time-outs, an IPL match halts four times for more than 10 minutes. As per Sunil Gavaskar, along with many other reasons, Strategic Timeouts (ST) delay the IPL matches, and they do not end at the stipulated time of 3 hours and 10 minutes, instead end after 4 hours.^[158] Amid the Super Giants against Mumbai Indians eliminator game in 2023, on-air he uttered, "How many times batsmen get out after a strategic timeout," indicating that it plays negative role in immediate fall of wickets by disrupting concentration of the batters.^[159]

Some cricketers have criticized strategic timeouts for interrupting the flow of play. In the past, it even faced a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) with the possibility that ST breaks were being used by bookies to connect with the players. In the past, IPL's stakeholders admitted that STs are unavoidable because it gives the BCCI and broadcasters additional time for more ads. In 2013, after a spot-fixing matter, then-president N. Srinivasan got sacked due to a pending inquiry, and Jagmohan Dalmia got appointed as interim president. Dalmia expressed openly that he wants to end STs and take other measures to restrain malpractices in the IPL.^[155]

Incidents with players

In 2008 edition, after a game, Harbhajan Singh, who was playing for Mumbai Indians, slapped S. Sreesanth. The IPL fined and banned him from the remaining entire edition. However, years later, he apologized Sreesanth for it on TV and said that he is ashamed for doing it.^[160][161]

In a 2022 interview, Yuzvendra Chahal revealed two incidents of physical harassment that happened with him, while he was with Mumbai Indians. In 2013, in a party of the team in a building, a drunken teammate took him to the balcony, overpowered him and hung him from 15th floor of the building. Yuzvendra said he narrowly survived that day.^{[162][163][164]} In another incident, two teammates including Andrew Symonds tied him, gagged his mouth and threw him in a room of hotel. He remained whole night alone in that room. When the hotel room service arrived at morning, they untied his hands and legs.^[165] He did not reveal the names of the offenders involved in the first incident. Reacting to these revelations, Virender Sehwag expressed that he want Yuzvendra to reveal the offender's name and furious Ravi Shastri expressed that the offender should be banned.^[163][164]

In 2010, the BCCI banned Ravindra Jadeja from the IPL for one year after he violated the IPL guidelines by not signing a renewal contract with his team Rajasthan Royals, and instead negotiated a more lucrative contract with other teams through back door.^[166]

Rajasthan Royals ownership dispute

In April 2010, the IPL president Shashank Manohar said in a press conference that they (IPL) don't know who the owners of Rajasthan Royals (RR) and the Punjab team are. The initial bid for RR was made by a person named Manoj Bhandale. After that, other firms from Mauritius were added as share holders. In response, Shilpa Shetty tweeted that she was a proprietor of RR. Regarding the Punjab team, the IPL president revealed that in the team bidding event, only Preity Zinta was interested in buying that team. She said that she would form a firm. She did it and signed a bid agreement with the BCCI. However, Preity did not have a single share in her name in that firm. Manohar alleged that Shetty and Zinta violated the agreement as prior permission of the BCCI is mandatory before transferring ownership shares with other people.^[167]

N. Srinivasan's ownership of CSK

In 2010, an e-mail leaked in Indian media, according to an Economic Times article, said that former IPL president Lalit Modi helped then-BCCI president N. Srinivasan to buy Andrew Flintoff in the auction for his team Chennai Super Kings (CSK).^[168] Srinivasan was criticized for owning an IPL team due to his conflict of interests. Former BCCI president A. Muthiah filed a lawsuit against Srinivasan in the Supreme Court of India; he claimed that Srinivasan altered the BCCI's rules to allow himself to purchase a team. The Lodha Committee banned CSK from the IPL for two years when their team principal, Gurunath Meiyappan, was found guilty of betting and providing inside information to bookies.^[169] The supreme court criticized Srinivasan for buying an IPL team while serving as the BCCI president; a judge commented, "How can a BCCI chief own a team?".^[170] However, he still own the team and his daughter Rupa Gurunath often appear in stadiums amid CSK's games.

Australian players' dispute with their board

Due to the BCCI giving one-tenth of foreign players' salaries to their respective country's national cricket boards, a dispute between Australian cricketers and Cricket Australia started. The Australian Cricketers' Association also opposed the arrangement.^[171]

Shashi Tharoor and Sunanda Pushkar's sweat equity in RSW

In 2010, the IPL president revealed that the Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor's wife Sunanda Pushkar has sweat equity share in Rendezvous Sports World (RSW), the proprieter of Kochi Tuskers Kerala team. Opposition party BJP agitated against the Indian National Congress. Later, it was revealed that Pushkar has ₹70 crore equity in RSW. Tharoor offered to leave his equity, but many within the Congress party felt that by doing this, Tharoor pleaded guilty. Due to pressure, the Congress party demanded his resignation. He was the first minister of United Progressive Alliance 2 who got slammed for his illegal moves.^[172]

Slow over rates

The IPL frequently gets criticism due to the slow pace of its matches. During the 2023 season, Jos Buttler mentioned on Twitter to speed up the pace of the play. An IPL match should end within 3:10 hours of the stipulated time, but it often ends after 4 hours. As per Gavaskar, strategic timeouts, reserve players running on the field with drinks and messages amid games, and batsmen asking for helmet result in these delays. The introduction of strategic timeouts were also suspected to be for monetary reasons, since it allows for more ad slots.^[157] Field umpires sometimes penalize teams by restricting them to field just four fielders outside the 30-yard area, or match referee penalizes by cutting captain's - team members' match fees, but it has not solved the problem. Games often run at a slow speed and finish late. Millions of viewers feel that IPL matches should be fast-paced.^[173]

Negative impact on international cricket

Former India captain Kapil Dev has claimed that there is an increasing risk of injury to Indian players because of playing in the IPL. He suggests that some players avoid India matches yet play in all IPL matches.^[174]

Exclusion of Pakistani players

Following the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai and the attack on Sri Lankan team in March 2009, geopolitical tensions surged between India and Pakistan. It led to several outcomes, one led to Pakistani players being unofficially forbidden to play in the IPL.^[175] While they had been selected by several teams for the inaugural IPL season (2008), their contracts were terminated before the 2009 edition. This situation has endured "due to political tensions".^[176] Among critics of BCCI and IPL owners is Imran Khan, who has said they "take it out on Pakistan players". He accuses BCCI of "arrogance" but also says "Pakistan should not worry about it".^[177]