The embattled Indian Cricket League kicked off its second season over the weekend, at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula, a quiet town outside Chandigarh. The venue will host 12 games in two weeks, and a total of 16 through the competition, on five pitches prepared for the event. The two other grounds, at Gurgaon and Hyderabad, will have a total of 18 games, including the third final if necessary.

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The pitches at Panchkula, according to an old ground hand, are all 200-run ones, and will break up as the tournament goes on. Until then, he believes, batsmen will be alright against all but the best bowlers. One is not sure what to make of this. Apart from Shane Bond [Images], there is no defining standard here. Some are nearly running on empty, and some have spurned complete retirement for one last taste of international cricket's pleasures. Among their reasons will be the US $ 625,000 prize, or any other part of the US $ 3.08million bounty. A former ICL official, speaking about November's tournament, said that it was clear that players wanted to win. "Inzamam was furious and threw down his helmet. So they do want to win. Maybe their motivation for winning is different, but there's no doubt they want to win."

Besides Bond, this edition features Damien Martyn, Adam Parore, and the big hitter Justin Kemp. Bond's name had done the rounds as a possible participant since April last year, and his inclusion this year gives the tournament a little more validity. But with each tournament, it finds less and less support from the establishment. The England [Images] Cricket Board has said it will ban any players who participate in the league. With this declaration the ECB joins a clutch of other boards.

This, however, doesn't seem to be a problem. Piyush Rana, a consultant with the league, says that establishing the league will take a while. "We've already initiated professionalism in Indian cricket. Today they compare it with the IPL. But this is a second stage for players. We plan to set up academies for the people the BCCI does not cover. There are three-and-a-half to four lakh Indians who play cricket, of which the BCCI covers 20,000. We have 380,000 people to choose from. Tell me, if A1 [A1 Grand Prix] and F1 [Formula One] can co-exist, why can't the IPL and ICL?"

Officials would know it isn't that easy. In the last two days, ICL people have spoken about how the country's appetite for cricket is insatiable. But three months ago there were vacant stands, even with entertainment in the form of actresses performing on stage.

They've taken it into account. This time the ground is smaller. Official reports say that 15,000 spectators crammed the stands at Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula for the final, with an equal number eager to get in. The ground had a capacity of 6000. It will now seat 4888 in eight stands.

The stands, incase you don't watch the game on television tonight, consist of low rows of red and yellow seats that spell out 'ICL'. Behind these stands are grassy mounds originally designed for spectators. When the league leased the ground from the Haryana Urban Development Authority for three years for Rs 7 crore, they pulled in the boundary to 65 meters from the pitch, in from 85 meters. This does two things. Spectators are closer to the center of the action, and whoever's there will be crammed together. It'll look good on television, which is what it's for, of course.

They're sparing little effort for television. On Friday afternoon, a film crew from the Zee network filmed segments on the ground with Jock Campbell, the Chandigarh physio, introducing some players as stars of the future. After a number of retakes, he finally got what the producer was looking for. "Hi, I'm Jock Campbell, the training and conditioning coach� This is Brijesh Sharma, the best off-spinner on the planet," he said dramatically, to which all Sharma could do was smile. "He's been working on his biceps."

"Saala, yeh to anchor ban gaya," the producer muttered.

Rahul Bhatia, a former correspondent with Cricinfo, is currently on sabbatical to work on a book on his favorite subject -- cricket. Rahul will file regular reports/features/interviews for Rediff during the ICL tournament. More of him here. (http://grch.wordpress.com/)