The “low-cost” business model is everywhere. From Air Deccan doing it in the Aviation industry to Big Bazar in retailing. But I definitely didn’t expect to see it in the IPL. But that’s what the strategy of the IPL Jaipur team looks to be. Remember the auction? The Jaipur team spent the least amount on the players, and were in fact even fined for it. In fact, even the franchise bid for the Jaipur team was also the lowest at $61 million.

While the other teams have been eagerly announcing CEOs, Chief Cricket Officers, (CCOs), batting coaches, bowling coaches and all kinds of other posts, the Jaipur team, which recently named itself the “Rajasthan Royals”, has been quietly piling more and more responsibilities on one player - Shane Warne.

Shane Warne is the strike bowler, the captain and now even the coach  of the Rajasthan Royals. It seems the owners, Emerging Media, are trying to get as much as they can out of Shane Warne, for who they paid $450,000. This pay is less than one third of what Dhoni was paid for by Chennai. Even the most expensive player on the team, Khaif, was snatched for only $675,000, about half of the highest.

The other owners, including SRK, Vijay Mallya and Mukesh Ambani have already declared that their primary interest in the IPL tournament is the enormous publicity. But are the owners of the Jaipur team, “Emerging Media”, on to something? I just can’t help but get the feeling that the Jaipur folks have found a loophole in this mega event that seems to have been hurriedly arranged. Remember that the BCCI is going to share the riches of the tournament with the teams. Is it possible that if the Jaipur team keeps the cost low enough, the share of IPL income coming in from the BCCI actually turns into a profit for the team, irrespective of it’s performance in the tournament?

Only time will tell if my conspiracy theory  will play out. Even after the tournament is over, the finances of the teams are unlikely to be publicly available, so we can only hope to put the picture together with the pieces available. But if they appoint Kamran Akmal as the wicket-keeper-cum-water-bottle-guy, then my suspicions will definitely be confirmed.