IPL 2013 at a Glance

In 2013, the Indian Premier League is stepping into its 6th edition with a significant change in its sponsorship. It is no longer the DLF IPL. The popularly known DLF IPL is now going to be called Pepsi IPL as PepsiCo has replaced IPL as the title sponsor of this glamorous and celebrity hyped cricket tournament. The 6th session of this cricket tournament is a just a month away and will begin on April 3, 2013 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata with an extravagant opening ceremony followed by the 1st match of this tournament to be held between 2012 IPL champion Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils.
The 5-year Rs. 250 Crore contract with DLF ended last year and the company did not apply for the renewal of this contract. Meanwhile, PepsiCo grabbed this opportunity and made a 5-year contract with the BCCI for Rs. 396.8 crores for the next five years which will continue till 2017. Apart from this major change in sponsorship, many other amendments have happened in this tournament. After the termination of the Kochi Tuskers from the IPL in 2012, Deccan Chargers is the second team which has been terminated from this tournament this year. Last year, nine teams participated in the tournament. So, after the termination of the Deccan Chargers, the organizing body of this tournament, BCCI, invited Hyderabad based bidders to form another team to replace the Deccan Chargers. Sun TV Network won the bid and has a new team called Sunrisers Hyderabad which was purchased at a cost of Rs. 85.05 crores per annum.
Also, there have been huge additions and subtractions in the player list as well. On February 3, 2013, the 2013 Pepsi Indian Premier League Player Auction was held where thirty seven cricketers were bought by all the nine teams for a total sum of US $11.89 million among which the highest amount was paid for Glenn Maxwell, the Aussie all-rounder. Mumbai Indians bought him for an eye-popping amount of US $1 million along with Ricky Ponting. Pune Warriors India bought Michael Clarke once more after last year. The most significant reshuffling was noticed in the Royal Challengers Bangalore team which bought the maximum number of players in the auction - a total of seven: four overseas and three Indians. Sunrisers Hyderabad bought six players in the auction; five overseas players and one Indian. Among the 37 cricketers who were bought in the auction, only fourteen players are new while the rest have been reshuffled. The only uncapped cricketer who was sold in this auction was Nathan Coulter-Nile. Mumbai Indians bought him.
With a lot of changes in the entire IPL 2013 season, this tournament is ready to rock the entire cricket world once more. All the nine teams: Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Daredevils, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Kings XI Punjab, Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians, Pune Warriors India, Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore are ready to add more colors to this much hyped cricket tournament.