MUMBAI: The Indian Premier league (IPL) helped in the evolution of cricket by bringing in an interesting format. The format also allowed various other sports like kabaddi, tennis and football to come into the spotlight last year. Joining the bandwagon this year will be cue sports.

The Billiards and Snooker Federation of India (BFSI) president PVK Mohan has said that the ‘Cue Masters League’ (CML) will be held this year in India. The league will have six franchises from different part of the country.

“We hope to finalise the format after the second edition of the Indian Open, which gets over in Mumbai and will be held from 10 - 14 March, 2015. The best formula for the tournament is being worked out,” said Mohan.

International Management Group (IMG) has been roped in to work out the different modalities. IMG along with Reliance worked together during the Indian Super League held recently. Each of the franchises will have one marquee player along with a key marquee owner.

In order to taste success at the league, players will be tested for skills for all the three formats - billiards, snooker and pool in the inaugural edition. Speaking about the interest in the league Mohan added, “We have garnered interest from different business houses. We hope to get the final draft ready by April but it is still in a very nascent stage.”

Mohan, who was recently also elected as the International Billiards and Snooker Federation president, informed that plans were also afoot to have an Asian Players’ Tour Championship in snooker in five countries. “Exciting days are ahead for cue sport,” he concluded.