Akhtar, Pollock, Oram join BCCI's Twenty20 league

Mumbai: Controversial Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, South African pacer Shaun Pollock and New Zealand all-rounder Jacob Oram have joined the $3 million Indian Premier League (IPL), taking the total number of players who have signed for April's first edition to 25. "To have 'Rawalpindi Express' (Akhtar) play for an India club team, together with a cricketer as talented as Pollock will be a dream-come-true for the cricket loving Indian fans," said IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi on Tuesday. Full Coverage: Australia in India "It also once again reiterates our commitment to create a tournament that will showcase some of the best talent in the world. I am very excited about the inaugural season of the IPL, which now looks all set to kick off in April 2008," said Modi, who is also a vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket India (BCCI) and president of the Rajasthan Cricket Association. The players who have earlier signed to play in IPL include Shane Warne, Glen McGarth, Justin Langer, Mahela Jayawardene, Graeme Smith, Herschelle Gibbs, A.B. de Villiers, Ashwell Prince, Albie Morkel, Mohammed Yousuf, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sanath Jayasuriya, Chaminda Vaas, Daniel Vettori, Stephen Fleming and Scott Styris. IPL will feature eight teams in the first season, with each team playing seven home and away games against one another, taking the total number of matches to 56. This will be followed by the semi-finals between the top four teams and the final. The matches will be played between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., which is expected to bring in lots of crowds. Interest is bound to grow in IPL as India recently won the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa last month. Besides Modi, the IPL governing council has former BCCI president I.S. Bindra, BCCI vice-presidents Chirayu Amin and Rajeev Shukla, Delhi and District Cricket Association president Arun Jaitely and former India captains Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri. All BCCI office bearers are ex-officio members of the IPL. The governing council, which has been initially appointed for five years, will run and operate the IPL as a virtual company. The IPL hopes to grow the number of teams to 16 by 2010. It expects each team to operate as a franchise.