Who hasn't been tapped up by the IPL?

Can I just make it clear for the record that I have not been asked to play in the IPL? Just thought I'd mention it as everyone else seems to be desperate to tell the world that they have been approached and turned it down. It started with Ali Brown, then Mark Ramprakash and then in the past day and a half we have had Ravi Bopara, Saj Mahmood and Luke Wright, left, all issuing statements that they have been approached by the IPL and said no. I almost expect Tuffers or Gatt to tell us that they were also tapped up.

Excuse my cynicism, but this has a whiff of agents wanting to hyperpromote their clients so that they can negotiate better sponsorship deals. Being on the fringe of England selection isn't sexy enough, but being someone who turned down the IPL, well that could earn you a few extra thousand from some bat manufacturer or clothing company.

I have no doubt that the five above were all genuinely approached by the IPL (although the league would hardly issue a denial). I understand Lalit Modi had the names of a couple of dozen English players that he wanted to tempt - but you do have to wonder whether the IPL's interest went any farther than a modest inquiry. The way these denials have been spun, you'd have thought that they were all on the verge of taking strike in Bangalore before deciding not to.

Let's be serious here: for all the merits of Mahmood, Wright and Bopara, it is hard to see any Indian franchise paying more for them than the $100,000 that Rajasthan paid for Dimitri Mascarenhas, the only England player out there. Most of their budgets were blown in the first auction in February, at which point the English players weren't available, and with a limit on four overseas players per match, clubs aren't going to splash out on benchwarmers. Just ask Mascarenhas, who hasn't played a game yet.

So, in pounds that makes a possible earning this year of about £50,000. Then take away 10 per cent in agents' fees and 40 per cent in tax and you are left with barely £30,000, but that is pro rata and Mascarenhas, who is only out there for two weeks, won't receive even that. Still not bad money for very little work, but announcing that you had turned the IPL down could be worth more money in extra sponsorship than signing up. And it doesn't pee off the England selectors. Shrewd, very shrewd.

Comments

[Mr A Nel]

Me.

[Pablo]

At this point, I'll have to admit that I was approached by the IPL too. Lalit Modi third degree cousin's daughter-in-law sat right behind me in a flight between London and Munich, four months ago. I felt myself compelled to stand up and tell her that I wasn't available, still waiting for the selectors of the Spanish team to call me (right after the team is actually created). My argument was solid as a rock. She took it well, with all the dignity a representative of the IPL can muster.