The ICL has launched its campaign with a different take, the first communication involved Mithun Chakravarty’s rechristened ICL side, Royal Bengal Tigers, aligning with the traditionally rich Howrah Union to synergise the activities of two sports organisations associated with two different sporting products. Howrah Union brings in its infrastructure and facility for the ICL team. On the other hand, the ICL and its league will help promote the football club on a more vibrant platform with its in-depth marketing expertise.

This is a first time step that can come as a solution for all the problems associated with sports in India; this is the best answer for all sports afficionados who believe India is a one-sport country.

If successful, this step could see the Chandigarh Lions (ICL’s Punjab team) tie-up with a Namdhari XI (Punjab’s hockey club). We may see a synergistic tie-up between Mahindra United FC (soccer club in Mumbai) and Mumbai Champs (ICL’s Mumbai team). It could create a path that takes India from a unipolar sporting nation into a multipolar sporting super power.

The ICL initiative that has excited me the most is its youth mobilisation campaign. ICL has taken sports to the colleges and universities. This may just enthuse a whole new young generation to the culture of sports. It is a far more refreshing approach to catch the imagination of the youth rather than having them pick a sporting product on basis of dard-e-disco and cheerleaders.

Manoranjan ke Baap was the first step to catch the imagination of the youth for league cricket and I hope for the sake of sports that youth mobilisation stands the test of time and take sports forward for the youth of the nation.

Looks a smart move by the ICL, to match the histrionics of Shahrukh Khan and Preity Zinta. They are banking on mobilising support of the humongous college and university population of India. The battle is on – its star power (IPL) taking on the common youth of India.