IPL good for traditional cricket: Lalit Modi

"This is an exciting time for cricket," said Lalit Modi, chairman of the IPL and vice-president of the Indian cricket board.

"There is no interest on our part to damage the traditional forms of the game. We believe this is a chance to take the game to places it has never been before, while at the same time preserving Test and 50-over cricket," he added.

Will the IPL prove a cricketing pariah, intent on devouring other forms of the game, or will it ensure cricket's survival in a time-poor society?

That question will not be answered until the competition begins next April. But for now, the players' long-form contract gives an intriguing insight into the IPL's vision for the game.

On the first page, under the section marked "conditions", IPL franchises are directed to "enable the Player to play for the Team without being in breach of any obligation to such national cricket board". The same condition, 1.1 (b), also states that a player must obtain a No-Objection Certificate, which is described as certification "from the Player's national cricket board ... which states that such national cricket board or other relevant person has no objection to the participation of the Player in the League or the Champions Tournament".

The national boards are provided with further safeguards in the IPL contract. Under the Player's Obligations section, 3.3, cricketers are excused from their IPL commitments if they are observing "proper compliance with any International Duty or with the terms of any Existing Agreement".

Furthermore, an IPL franchise must "release the Player as required for the purposes of fulfilling any International Duty," as observed in the Franchisee's Obligations section (6.1 e).

In other words, an Australian player will not play in the IPL without the express permission of Cricket Australia (CA). And a franchise must release said player if CA demands it. And the NOCs are expected to contain a clause for a two-year cooling off period after a player's retirement, ensuring that cricketers will not truncate their international careers to cash in on the lucrative Twenty20 league. Modi, it seems, has been true to his word.