Cricket as a sport captures the nation’s imagination. Cricket and India is a long drawn out love affair. National Institute of Industrial Engineering, Mumbai (NITIE) conducts its B-School cricket tournament called NITIE Premier League (NPL) every year. NITIE Premier League is the first of its kind B- school annual cricket tournament simulated along the lines of IPL. After conducting a successful NPL 4.0, which was a smash hit with unprecedented team bids, more than 700 spectators from the top B schools (IIMs, IITs) from all over the country, print and social media coverage; NITIE is back with the next season of the campus rage, NPL 5.0. The 5th edition of NPL will be organised from 6th to 14th of February, 2015 in the college campus.
NPL captivates and cultivates the cricketing spirit apparent in India in this first of its kind sporting extravaganza among the B-Schools. NPL forum has, since its inception, been successful in simulating the IPL atmosphere and providing an opportunity to the cricket enthusiasts of NITIE to experience the same by managing their own teams.
NITIE located amidst the lap of nature provides a serene setting for a game of cricket. The lush green ground surrounded by a hill and people rooting for teams named after cities of India is a sight to behold during NPL.
- Bawaal: the inter-section Cricket Tournament which provides players an opportunity to showcase their talent and prove their mettle to the prospective team-owners.
- Team Auction: You see people shelling out insane amounts of money (virtually) just to ‘buy’ their hometown or the city they love. Last year, the 2 hour auction process culminated into 6 teams viz – Bangalore Falcons, Mumbai Mavericks, and Rajasthan Warriors representing Group A and Delhi Dashers, Chennai United, and Lucknow Nawabs forming Group B. Now it was time to apply all the Marketing and Branding skills learnt in the classroom. From amusing taglines like ‘Maarega Nahin To Jeetega Kaise’, to flamboyant jerseys, to intense photo shoots, to female Brand Managers and Brand Ambassadors(who again were auctioned), the teams did not leave a single arrow in their quiver of creativity.
- Domestic Player Auctions: With Rs.6 lakh at disposal (virtual, of course), the six teams enter the domestic player auction.
- Foreign Player Auctions: Foreign players are students from other B-Schools and since only the best players from these B-Schools like SJMSOM, NMIMS, SPJIMR and many more, are invited to play in the NPL, the foreign players generally go for a higher bid. A purse of Rs. 4 (virtual) is given to each team to purchase 4 foreign players each.