Icon player is a status given to an athlete to indicate that they are the most valued player in the team. The title is most commonly currently used in domestic cricket, particularly in the
Bangladesh Premier League
The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) ( bn, বাংলাদেশ প্রিমিয়ার লীগ) is a professional Twenty20 cricket league consisting of seven franchises. The BPL is one of the three professional cricket leagues in ...
,
Afghanistan Premier League and
Euro T20 Slam
The Euro T20 Slam is a planned professional Twenty20 cricket league. The first edition of the tournament was initially scheduled to start in August 2019, with matches to be held in Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands. It's launch has been post ...
. It was previously used in
Indian Premier League,
Pakistan Super League and
Global T20 Canada
The Global T20 Canada is a 20-over cricket tournament played in Canada. The first edition of the tournament took place during June and July 2018 with six teams competing. Each team featured four local Canadian cricketers in each squad, along wi ...
. The status can sometimes denote that the player will be among the first to be
drafted or auctioned in the league.
Indian Premier League
Icon player was a status given to five players of the
Indian Premier League. They were not a part of the first IPL players auction, which was held in 2008. They played for the team they were assigned to. The icon players received 15% percent more money than the highest-paid player of the team bought in the auction. As of the 2010 season, the clause pertaining to icon players has been removed on account of complaints by franchises with icon players that having these players was a handicap in the player auction.
Initially there were four icon players designated by the Indian Premier League organizing committee:
Sachin Tendulkar for
Mumbai Indians
Mumbai Indians are a franchise cricket team based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, that competes in the Indian Premier League and is the most successful team of the tournament with 5 titles. Founded in 2008, the team is owned by India's biggest conglo ...
,
Sourav Ganguly for
Kolkata Knight Riders,
Rahul Dravid
Rahul Sharad Dravid (; born 11 January 1973) is an Indian cricket coach and former captain of the Indian national team, currently serving as its head coach. Prior to his appointment to the senior men's national team, Dravid was the Head of ...
for
Royal Challengers Bangalore, and
Yuvraj Singh for
Kings XI Punjab. Later, on the request of
Delhi Daredevils,
Virender Sehwag's name was added to the list.
Deccan Chargers also asked for Icon Player status to be given to
VVS Laxman, but he declined the offer in order to allow the franchise to spend more money on other players and still not breach the
US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
5 million salary cap. The purpose behind designating the icon players is to ensure that top draw players will represent their respective city sides, which is important for the league to increase fan support and interest among the locals.
It has been reported that all the franchises with icon players felt that having the icon player was a handicap in the player auction, as the money spent on the icon resulted in less room under the salary cap to purchase other players. For example, the presence of
Sachin Tendulkar as an icon player was cited as the main reason why
Mumbai Indians
Mumbai Indians are a franchise cricket team based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, that competes in the Indian Premier League and is the most successful team of the tournament with 5 titles. Founded in 2008, the team is owned by India's biggest conglo ...
could not compete with
Chennai Super Kings for
Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Pakistan Super League
The Icon player status was given to five players in the first season of the
Pakistan Super League. The five players would be the first five to be drafted in the league so that every team would have an Icon player. The title was not exclusive to Pakistani players and three out of the five icon players were foreigners.
The decision created controversy as it was reported that
Pakistan's
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
captain,
Misbah-ul-Haq
; born 28 May 1974) is a former Pakistani cricket coach and former international cricketer. Misbah captained Pakistan in all formats and is former head coach and former chief selector of the Pakistan national team.
A late bloomer, Misbah was a midd ...
and highest test scoring batsman,
Younus Khan
Mohammad Younis Khan PP SI (Urdu: ; Pashto: ; born 29 November 1977) is a Pakistani professional cricket coach and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team in all three formats of the game, and is widely regarded as ...
were unhappy with their exclusion as icon players and threatened to skip the league if they were not given leadership roles.
Bangladesh Premier League
Icon player status was given to six players of the six team in the
Bangladesh Premier League
The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) ( bn, বাংলাদেশ প্রিমিয়ার লীগ) is a professional Twenty20 cricket league consisting of seven franchises. The BPL is one of the three professional cricket leagues in ...
. Icon player status was available only for the
first season. Icon players' base prize was 210,000. They were not included in the
auction list, and they would receive 15% more than the highest-paid local players. Later, icon status was excluded in the
next season and first category local players were categorized as ''Golden Category''.
Again the icon category was introduced in the
2015 Bangladesh Premier League
Fifteen or 15 may refer to:
*15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16
*one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015
Music
*Fifteen (band), a punk rock band
Albums
* ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005
* ''15'' (Ani Lorak album ...
with a base price of 50,000.
List of icon players in the BPL
*
Mushfiqur Rahim for
Comilla Victorians
* TBD for
Dhaka Dynamites
The Dhaka Dominators (Dhakaiya/ bn, ঢাকা ডমিনেটর্স) is a franchise cricket team that plays in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), representing the country's Dhaka City, Dhaka.
The team was originally established in 20 ...
*
Tamim Iqbal for
Khulna Titans
Khulna Tigers ( bn, খুলনা টাইগার্স) are a franchise Twenty20 cricket team representing the Khulna division in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), a Twenty20 cricket tournament. The franchise was owned by Gemcon Sports a ...
*
Mustafizur Rahman for
Rajshahi Kings
*
Shakib Al Hasan for
Rangpur Riders
*
Liton Das for
Sylhet Sixers
Sylhet Strikers (Sylheti/ bn, সিলেট স্ট্রাইকার্স) is a professional cricket franchise team based in Sylhet, Bangladesh. The team competes in the Bangladesh Premier League. The franchise made their debut at the ...
Afghanistan Premier League
List of icon players in the APL
*
Chris Gayle for
Balkh Legends
*
Rashid Khan for
Kabul Zwanan
Kabul Zwanan ( ps, کابل ځوانان ''Kābəl Źwānān'', literally "Kabul Youth") are a franchise cricket team which participates in the Afghanistan Premier League (APL). They joined the APL as one of its original members in 2018. Afghan le ...
*
Brendon McCullum for
Kandahar Knights
*
Andre Russell for
Nangarhar Leopards
The Nangarhar Leopards ( ps, ''Da Nangarhār Pṛāngān'') are a franchise cricket team which participates in the Afghanistan Premier League (APL). They joined the APL as one of its original members in 2018. The Australian all-rounder Ben Cutti ...
*
Shahid Afridi
Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi ( ur, شاہد افریدی, ps, شاهد افریدی; born 1 March 1977), known as Shahid Afridi, is a Pakistani former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. He is current ...
for
Paktia Panthers
The Paktia Super Kings ( ps, ), formerly known as the Paktia Panthers ( ps, ), is an Afghan professional Twenty20 cricket franchise team that competes in the Afghanistan Premier League. The team is based in Khost, the provincial capital of Kho ...
Euro T20 Slam
List of icon players in the ET20 Slam
*
Shane Watson for Amsterdam Knights
*
Shahid Afridi
Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi ( ur, شاہد افریدی, ps, شاهد افریدی; born 1 March 1977), known as Shahid Afridi, is a Pakistani former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. He is current ...
for Belfast Titans
*
Eoin Morgan
Eoin (, or ) is an Irish name. The Scottish Gaelic equivalent is () and both are closely related to the Welsh . It is also cognate with the Irish . In the Irish language, it is the name used for all Biblical figures known as ''John'' in Engli ...
for Dublin Chiefs
*
Martin Guptill for Edinburgh Rocks
*
Brendon McCullum for Glasgow Giants
*
Rashid Khan for Rotterdam Rhinos
References
External links
Official Indian Premier League SiteOfficiak Pakistan Super League Site
{{Pakistan Super League
Indian Premier League
Bangladesh Premier League
Pakistan Super League