KP in line for record IPL contract

Kevin Pietersen expects to be playing in India next year, and is on the verge of signing the most lucrative deal yet witnessed in the Indian Premier League, after being offered in excess of US$4million for a three-year contract by an undisclosed IPL franchise.

According to a report in Saturday's Daily Mail, the deal has been financed by one of India's wealthiest families, who want Pietersen to sign "at any price". Mahendra Singh Dhoni is currently the most valuable player in the competition, earning in excess of US$1.5million a year, but such is Pietersen's appeal - on the field and off it - his final figure could yet top that.

The news comes as a blow to the England & Wales Cricket Board, who had hoped to prevent their players from being lured to India ahead of a pivotal summer that includes the ICC World Twenty20 and, of course, the Ashes. An ECB insider told the Daily Mail that the head coach, Peter Moores, would have the final say on which contracted players would be permitted to join the IPL, but in Pietersen's case, they were already resigned to making an exception.

Pietersen is currently 28 and approaching his prime as a cricketer. He has not missed a Test for England since making his debut in the 2005 Ashes, although he will now face a busy run-up to the 2009 rematch against Australia, with England scheduled to tour the Caribbean in February and March before his proposed three-week stint in India. The ECB is naturally fearful of what could happen if the workload proves too much for him, or any other colleagues who might be lured by the IPL, but they are privately resigned to the situation. One man who would not be allowed to take part, however, would be Andrew Flintoff, given his ongoing fitness problems.

Speaking to the same paper earlier in the week, Pietersen set his stall out to play for England until he is 35, but insisted that he shouldn't be denied the opportunity to make the most of his prime years. "I do wonder how long I'm going to do this for," he said. "Time will tell. I could get injured tomorrow and would be finished. That's why I was frustrated and irritated when we weren't allowed to go to India. I definitely want to go next year."

It had been mooted in some quarters that Pietersen could chose to go freelance if the ECB didn't accede to his demands, but he denied that this had entered his thoughts. "Turning down a central contract is not something that has entered my head yet," he said, "but it would be horrendous if four or five of England's best players decided to do that and go to India instead. We should not be in a position where we have to choose. No one else had to."

In a more promising development for the ECB, its proposed tie-up with Allen Stanford is nearing completion. According to the Daily Telegraph, the deal will be worth US$200million over five years, with an annual $20million match to be staged in Antigua until 2012. "The lawyers are still working on the fine print," the ECB's chief executive, David Collier, told the paper, "but we have finalised our negotiations and everything is in place."

by one of India's wealthiest families

Mumbai will suit Pietersen probably.

If this report is true then it probably means that US$ 5m cap on spending for purchasing players, imposed IPL will be the thing of the past from IPL's next season onwards.

Because if they're offering KP US$ 4million then they'll have to pay Tendulkar (icon player for Mumbai Indians) atleast 15% more than the highest paid player in Mumbai.

I'm not sure KP is worth that much money. His T20 record, both internationally and domestically, is nothing spectacular. I guess the team owners aren't really learning much from what has happened in the IPL so far this year? The 2 poorest clubs- Rajasthan and the Kings XI, are at the top of the table, whilst 2 of the richest clubs in Bangalore and Hyderabad, have been awful.

I think the icon player thing will also be scrapped. I still can't see them paying Tendulkar less than anyone in the team.

KP is on the verge of leading a rebellion against ECB to join IPL next year and is being sought after by Ambani for Team Mumbai.

Henry wrote:I'm not sure KP is worth that much money. His T20 record, both internationally and domestically, is nothing spectacular. I guess the team owners aren't really learning much from what has happened in the IPL so far this year? The 2 poorest clubs- Rajasthan and the Kings XI, are at the top of the table, whilst 2 of the richest clubs in Bangalore and Hyderabad, have been awful.

Agreed.

I think Mukesh Ambani just wants to encash KP's name. But still throwing so much money for just 1 player is bordering on being insane. This probably means that IPL will get bigger come next season, both financially as well stakes wise.

Well, he's whinged enough. This should finally shut him up.

Gives an awful amount of power to players though. "If you drop me I'm off to the IPL for good" and that sort of thing.

One man who would not be allowed to take part, however, would be Andrew Flintoff, given his ongoing fitness problems.

Given Shane Watson's (so far) injury free run I wonder what compensation they will offer Flintoff to miss the IPL cash cow ...

Lara Lara Laughs wrote:Well, he's whinged enough. This should finally shut him up.

Gives an awful amount of power to players though. "If you drop me I'm off to the IPL for good" and that sort of thing.

Can't happen because there are safeguards placed against that.

embee wrote:

One man who would not be allowed to take part, however, would be Andrew Flintoff, given his ongoing fitness problems.

Given Shane Watson's (so far) injury free run I wonder what compensation they will offer Flintoff to miss the IPL cash cow ...

Flintoff is a player who clubs would probably play $3 million+ for. Great bowler in the short forms of the game, and a big hitter who could bat in the top three in a T20 if he finds hid form.

Flintoff would go for more than KP, if they had been auctioned like the other players were.

If a player was offered in excess of $3 million US to play 6 weeks of cricket, only to be told "No way" by his board, it's hard to imagine that player going,"Oh, ok then". Even Freddie. You wouldn't blame anyone for being tempted by that sort of money. The ECB needs to either let their big players play in the IPL next year, or come up with an alternative with similar sorts of money involved, otherwise there could be problems.

$4 million for 3 years. thats $1.33 million a year

still tidy money. will be interesting to see the value of icons from next year onwards as also other players when the caps are off. the likes of sachin and dhoni are going to be paid ridiculous amounts. amount of money per match is already more than the epl, next year will rival american sports

Where is the money coming from ? Most of the tickets for the first season were freebies given away by a BCCI directive to try and build some momentum. Understand that it could be as low as 20 % for paid tickets and this is the primary revenue source for the franchisees.

From what I understand Sony has paid about 60 Mil US per year to BCCI for the next few years. The other country deals could be worth a max of 10 Mil per year.

60 % of the TV revenues ie. about 42 out of the 70 mil will be shared by BCCI with the franchisees and other boards who are playing ball with BCCI.

Given those numbers I cannot see how all those ridiculous numbers that are floating around are possible.

Have I got the numbers correct here ? Could somebody verify for me.

I expect the "Icon" values to come crashing down. If a player performs or has the potential to perform he will get paid, past history and big names will not be entertained by the private franchisee who are in this for the money.

tickets are ridiculously hard to come by. i couldnt get tickets for the last two games in bombay, they were sold out

bcci has tied up over $1 billion for 10 years from just tv rights and sponsorship. franchisees also get in-stadia advertising, ticket receipts and most importantly huge mileage for their brands. most are probably looking at break even in 3-4 years. before that is a bonus

i can see the value of dravid and ganguly falling (though ganguly is a huge calcutta icon). ther other three should see more money coming their way

I'd imagine the value of a player like Rohit Sharma will skyrocket, as the franchises attempt to secure the services of the man widely considered to be the next big thing in Indian batting. A player like Manpreet Gony, who has come out of nowhere to suddenly be in contention for an Indian spot thanks to the IPL, could also see his worth go up enormously.

Personally, I think a player like Gautam Gambhir should be worth a lot more than he is now. He's probably the best T20 batsman in the world.

Likely $1 million+ players next year-

Dhoni (India)
Tendulkar (India)
Ganguly (India)
Yuvraj (India)
Sehwag (India)
Ishant Sharma (India)
Rohit Sharma (India)
I. Pathan (India)
Gambhir (India)
Gony (India)
Flintoff (England)
Pietersen (England)
Watson (Australia)
S.Marsh (Australia)
Lee (Australia)
Symonds (Australia)
McCullum (New Zealand)
Bravo (West Indies)
Smith (South Africa)

IMO,

Dhoni (India): Yes
Tendulkar (India): Yes
Ganguly (India): Yes
Yuvraj (India): Yes
Sehwag (India): Yes
Ishant Sharma (India): Yes
Rohit Sharma (India): Yes
I. Pathan (India): Yes
Gambhir (India): Yes
Gony (India): No way
Flintoff (England): Yes, provided ECB allows him to play.
Pietersen (England): Yes
Watson (Australia): No way
S.Marsh (Australia): No way
Lee (Australia): Yes
Symonds (Australia): Yes
McCullum (New Zealand): Yes
Bravo (West Indies): No way
Smith (South Africa): No way

Surely the IPL owners will learn their lesson and pick players more on T20 performance than their reputation in the Test and ODI arenas? Bangalore is in crisis, purely because they haven't been performing on the field, and surely they will be prepared to pay big money for a player such as Watson as he is a proven IPL performer.

You probably forgot Paris and NotParis , Trev

Yeah, the two Hussey's will probably fetch $1 million as well. I would have added Warnie and Jayasuriya to the list, but their ages will probably mean they fetch less money. Indeed, they might not even be around next year.

Henry wrote:Yeah, the two Hussey's will probably fetch $1 million as well. I would have added Warnie and Jayasuriya to the list, but their ages will probably mean they fetch less money. Indeed, they might not even be around next year.

But D.Hussey has averaged 1 over his past 2 innings and Mike only had one really good innings, albeit a ton. Why would Ganguly command 1 million. Again he's only produced one really good, aggressive knock.

BTW has KP done a backflip? Earlier this year he was saying the pommy players didn't need to join the IPL and he was happy with the money he was getting via the ECB.