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,

Afghanistan Premier League The Afghanistan Premier League (APL) ( ps, ; fa, ), officially Gulbahar Afghanistan Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a Twenty20 cricket franchise tournament run by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), held in the United Arab Emirat ...

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 The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 franchise cricket league of India. It is annually contested by ten teams based out of seven Indian cities and three Indian states. The leagu ...

Pakistan Super League The Pakistan Super League (PSL) is a professional Twenty20 cricket league contested during February and March of every year by six teams representing six cities of Pakistan. The league was founded on 9 September 2015 with five teams by the Paki ...

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

. 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 Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who captained the Indian national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the all time highest run-sco ...

for Mumbai Indians,

Sourav Ganguly Sourav Chandidas Ganguly (; natively spelled as Gangopadhyay; born 8 July 1972), affectionately known as Dada (meaning ''"elder brother"'' in Bengali), is an Indian cricket administrator, commentator and former national cricket team captain w ...

for

Kolkata Knight Riders Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are a franchise cricket team representing the city of Kolkata in the Indian Premier League. The franchise is owned by Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, actress Juhi Chawla and her spouse Jay Mehta. The Knight Riders ...

, Rahul Dravid for

Royal Challengers Bangalore Royal Challengers Bangalore (often abbreviated as RCB) are a franchise cricket team based in Bangalore, Karnataka, that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). It was founded in 2008 by United Spirits and named after the company's liquor ...

, and

Yuvraj Singh Yuvraj Singh (born 12 December 1981) is a former Indian international cricketer who played in all formats of the game. He is an all-rounder who batted left-handed in the middle order and bowled slow left-arm orthodox . He has won 7 Player of ...

for

Kings XI Punjab Punjab Kings (PBKS) are a franchise cricket team based in Mohali, Punjab, that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Established in 2008 as the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), the franchise is jointly owned by Mohit Burman, Ness Wadia, Preity Zi ...

. Later, on the request of

Delhi Daredevils Delhi Capitals (formerly Delhi Daredevils) are a franchise cricket team based out of Delhi in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is jointly owned by the GMR Group and the JSW Group. The team's home ground is Arun Jaitley Stadiu ...

Virender Sehwag Virender Sehwag (born 20 October 1978) is a former Indian cricketer who represented India from 1999 to 2013. Widely regarded as one of the most destructive opener, he played for Delhi Capitals in IPL and Delhi and Haryana in Indian domestic ...

's name was added to the list.

Deccan Chargers The large Deccan Plateau in southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bounded by the ...

also asked for Icon Player status to be given to

VVS Laxman Vangipurapu Venkata Sai Laxman (; born 1 November 1974) is a former Indian international cricketer and a former cricket commentator and pundit. A right-hand batsman known for his elegant stroke play, Laxman played as a middle-order batsman in T ...

, 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

as an icon player was cited as the main reason why Mumbai Indians could not compete with

Chennai Super Kings Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is an Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise cricket team based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Founded in 2008, the team plays its home matches at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The team is owned by India ...

for

Mahendra Singh Dhoni Mahendra Singh Dhoni (; born 7 July 1981) is an Indian former international cricketer who was captain of the Indian national cricket team in limited-overs formats from 2007 to 2017 and in Test cricket from 2008 to 2014. He is also the curren ...

Pakistan Super League

The Icon player status was given to five players in the first season of the

. 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 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. 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 with a base price of 50,000.

List of icon players in the BPL

Mushfiqur Rahim Mushfiqur Rahim ( bn, মুশফিকুর রহিম; born 9 May 1987) is a Bangladeshi cricketer and the former captain and vice-captain of the Bangladesh national cricket team. He is a right-handed middle-order batsman and wicket-keepe ...

for

Comilla Victorians Comilla Victorians ( bn, কুমিল্লা ভিক্টোরিয়ান্স) is a Bangladeshi professional men's cricket team which competes in the Bangladesh Premier League, a Twenty20 cricket league. The team is based in Cum ...

* TBD for Dhaka Dynamites *

Tamim Iqbal Tamim Iqbal Khan (Bengali: তামিম ইকবাল খান; born 20 March 1989), more popularly known as Tamim Iqbal, is a Bangladeshi cricketer. He is the nephew of former Bangladesh skipper Akram Khan, the current chief selector of ...

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 Mustafizur Rahman ( Bengali: মুস্তাফিজুর রহমান; born 6 September 1995) is a Bangladeshi international cricketer. He is a left-arm fast-medium bowler. He won the Emerging Player Award in his first T20 World Cup i ...

for

Rajshahi Kings Rajshahi Royals ( Varendri/ bn, রাজশাহী রয়্যালস) were a Bangladeshi franchise Twenty20 cricket team. The team was based in Rajshahi in Bangladesh and competes in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), a Twenty20 fr ...

Shakib Al Hasan Shakib Al Hasan (Bengali: সাকিব আল হাসান; born 24 March 1987) is a Bangladeshi cricketer and current captain of the Bangladesh national cricket team in Tests and T20Is. He plays for Barishal in domestic cricket as an all- ...

for

Rangpur Riders The Rangpur Riders ( Rangpuriya/ bn, রংপুর রাইডার্স), is a professional cricket team based in Rangpur City, Rangpur. The Riders, compete in Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), the premier cricket league in Bangladesh. T ...

Liton Das Litton Kumer Das ( Bengali: লিটন কুমার দাস; born 16 February 1994) is a Bangladeshi cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a test wicket-keeper. He made his international debut for Bangladesh in June 2015. He has scor ...

for Sylhet Sixers

Afghanistan Premier League

List of icon players in the APL

Chris Gayle Christopher Henry Gayle, OD (born 21 September 1979) is a Jamaican cricketer who has been playing international cricket for the West Indies since 1999. A destructive batter, Gayle is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen to have play ...

for

Balkh Legends The Balkh Legends ( ps, د بلخ اتلان ''Da Balkh Atalān''; fa, قهرمانان بلخ) 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. A ...

Rashid Khan Rashid Khan Arman ( ps, ; born 20 September 1998) is an Afghan international cricketer and a former captain of the national team. In franchise leagues, he plays for Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Adelaide Strikers in Austra ...

for Kabul Zwanan *

Brendon McCullum Brendon Barrie McCullum (born 27 September 1981) is a cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer representing New Zealand, who played all formats, including as captain. McCullum was renowned for his quick scoring, notably recording the f ...

for

Kandahar Knights The Kandahar Knights ( ps, ''Da Kandahār Tūryālī'') 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. Asghar Afghan was the captain for the i ...

Andre Russell Andre Dwayne Russell (born 29 April 1988) is a Jamaican who has played international cricket for West Indies and for Jamaica in domestic cricket as an all-rounder. He currently plays in various T20 leagues around the globe. Russell was part of ...

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 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 Khost ...

Euro T20 Slam

List of icon players in the ET20 Slam

Shane Watson Shane Robert Watson (born 17 June 1981) is an Australian former cricketer, and occasional captain in all formats, who has played for Australia's national cricket team. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-handed fast-medium swing bowler w ...

for Amsterdam Knights * Shahid Afridi for Belfast Titans * Eoin Morgan for Dublin Chiefs *

Martin Guptill Martin James Guptill (born 30 September 1986) is a New Zealand international cricketer who plays as an opening batsman in limited overs formats of the game. Guptill is the first cricketer from New Zealand and the fifth overall to have scored a d ...

for Edinburgh Rocks *

for Glasgow Giants *

for Rotterdam Rhinos

References

External links

Official Indian Premier League Site

Officiak Pakistan Super League Site
{{Pakistan Super League Indian Premier League Bangladesh Premier League Pakistan Super League