IPL-3 beckons, even loser takes it all!<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

We must be feeling a lot happier as the planet EARTH was chosen to be the liveliest of all when God created the universe.  I am sure we can confidently say that it will remain so forever no matter whether great men are from MARS and beautiful women are from VENUS.

God seemed to have had a unique plan!

The inhabitants had their own plans though! They wanted to enjoy everything they do and they chose to do only what they enjoyed. They explored umpteen ways to make it a fruitful reality. One such exploration resulted in the formulation of sporting games. Soccer, Basketball, Footy and Cricket were all born.

God indeed had a plan!

<?xml:namespace prefix = u1 />Europe fancied Soccer so much and they chose to make it big! Basketball became American baby and Footy was nurtured down under. Cricket was nobody’s game anymore.

Was it again a part of the plan?

Not really though! The cricketing fraternity did everything possible to uplift this downtrodden game. They analysed every permutations and combinations and they kept pushing on their abstract agenda. Nevertheless there was a disconnect somewhere.

Did they lack the required business acumen? Yes, the game needed to be nurtured in the right place.

Alas, Indian Premier League was born!

Like anybody from this ongoing generation, I am fortunate to have been witnessing this modern extravaganza that has everything you can dream for. It has everything in store for you as a cricket lover or strategist or businessman or businesswoman. The games provide great excitement, passion, on the field and off the field controversies, cheerleaders, high TRP and there is no wonder on why the world’s biggest democracy goes mad about loving this sport!

Is that all? One may wonder though!

The biggest throughput is the money involved! It can make the teams rich by all standards. The business analyst in me developed a model and started doing the numerical analysis. My inquisitive mind took a long nice breath when I realized that my model can predict how many cricket billionaires would be created as a result of having this game organized for a few years.

“An extrapolation would be required”, my mind reminded me.

The first edition of the Indian Premier League witnessed most of the participating business owners ending up on the losing sides though Rajasthan Royals straight drived home with the inaugural trophy and a whopping 20% profit. Kolkata Knight Riders, though finished sixth, too made a winning start with 18% profit. (See Table below)

Nobody panicked though!

There were no show cause notices or show stopper meetings! Nobody pointed their fingers at each other. Everyone involved started their next day as if they won a huge lottery! They knew that the planet Earth would require just 365 more days to get them back to winning ways and to have their business go green!

Even adverse political circumstances could not spoil the happening of this event as the second edition of the Indian Premier League was a huge success once again.

Though there was just one champion team, not even one team tasted the business LOSS! The figures involved were truly mind blowing! There were teams that made almost 50% profits.

Winner and Loser indeed took it all!

The third edition of this much awaited tournament will kick start from 12^th of March, 2010. I just could not wait to see what numbers my models would predict.

There is every possibility for all the business teams to go green this time as well. If the trends follow my model, India will be fortunate to have several new cricket billionaires by the end of 8^th or 9^th season of the much coveted Indian Premier League!

One should not be wondering on why God had such a unique plan, firstly having this universe made, then the planet made and finally the game of cricket played in India!

Go India Go, Live long and prosper!

If business people across the globe are delaying their strategies on buying a new team, I reckon it is not too late!