What does the future hold for cricket as the greatest show on earth gets set for launch?

While the result of a 20-over-per-side match between the Bangalore Royal Challengers and the Kolkata Knight Riders may be forgotten, in most corners of the world, by this time next week, no one can afford to underplay the significance of a new event which few people saw coming even a year ago.

Click here for your team-by-team guide to the IPL

"It will be a new milestone in the cricketing history of the world," said Inderjit Singh Bindra, one of the main figures behind the IPL.

And he is not exaggerating. No other subject has really registered on cricket's radar since that astonishing auction in Mumbai two months ago, when players were traded like stocks and shares and a million dollars and more were paid for the biggest names.

Only England's star turns, such as Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff, have stayed on the shelf - put there because they have commitments to the country that pays their wages. But that will change, sooner or later.

Other countries cannot afford to sit still, though.

The game of catch-up has already begun and, here, an England Premier League is on its way.

But, first, we examine the issues brought into sharp focus by the IPL.

Where did the Indian Premier League spring from?

Ironically, India were initially hostile to the idea of Twenty20 cricket - until they saw the light.

Their outlook changed during the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa last September. A hugely successful fortnight ended with India lifting the trophy, by beating arch-rivals Pakistan in the final - and a billion excited followers crammed in front of their TV sets underlined the enormous potential.

The 'rebel' Indian Cricket League, set up to satisfy a television company miffed at missing out on mainstream TV rights, swiftly followed. Then, with the intention of killing off the ICL, came the IPL, gaining backing from both the Indian board and the ICC.

How much money is involved in IPL?

The numbers are mind-boggling. Through selling TV rights and franchises the Indian Board have already made £800million and the top bounty paid to a player for this first tournament was £759,000 - handed over by Chennai to secure the services of India's Mahendra Dhoni. Australia's Andrew Symonds is the highest-paid overseas player on £683,000 for his six weeks of work.

Will it succeed?

Well, it had better considering the players have signed up for three years and TV rights have been sold for 10.

There is a huge appetite for limited-overs cricket in India. What nobody knows, though, is whether the players will be as passionate about representing Kolkata Knight Riders as, say, Australia. And will fans support a South African, for example, over Sachin Tendulkar in their opposition's colours.

So how long before England's top players are involved?

Sooner rather than later is the obvious answer. Despite the attempts of ECB chairman Giles Clarke to rule out next year, there are signs of a softening in England's stance.

Limited involvement seems possible in 2009 while 2010 should see them playing a full part. As England captain Michael Vaughan admitted this week: "England players will end up in the IPL, whether it is this year or next."

Is it a threat to world cricket, then?

Yes... and no. Domestic cricket, particularly English domestic cricket, is likely to suffer because the best overseas players can now earn a fortune from playing a few weeks of Twenty20 and will not need to do the hard yards of a full county season.

And there will be more home players doing a Dimitri Mascarenhas next year - missing games here to go to India.

But, Test cricket looks safe. It is still the game every player aspires to. "I would never, ever jeopardise my England career to play in India," said Pietersen.

How will English cricket chiefs respond?

Carefully, as is their way. "We don't want a knee-jerk reaction to the IPL,î said Clarke. "But we believe we can set up a competition of our own which won't affect Test and one-day international cricket."

The ECB are looking at how they can relaunch Twenty20 here as an England Premier League, presumably involving more overseas players and freeing up the likes of Pietersen and Flintoff to appear in it. And their meeting this week with Texan billionaire Allen Stanford was particularly interesting.

Stanford's idea of a winner-takes-all £10m challenge match between England and his All-Stars team in the Caribbean next winter would take Twenty20 to yet another level - beyond even IPL.

Where can we see it?

The action is live on Setanta (3.20pm).