The International Cricket Council were alerted to the first rumblings when more than 200 website domain names were registered to cover countries and associations that could be affiliated to the new body. The United States, inevitably, and China, possibly less so, have been identified as ideal for development.
Essel owns the satellite broadcaster Zee TV and its subsidiary Ten Sports, which covers cricket in South Africa, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, West Indies and Zimbabwe - five of the 10 major nations, although all but South Africa have major, differing issues confronting them.
(Zimbabwe, by the way, are set to become the first country to play in Pakistan since 2009 with five limited overs matches, all in Lahore this month.)
Since India, England and Australia - the latter two on the coat tails of the financial juggernaut - assumed control of the game this year, there has been a sense of bitterness among those on the outside.
In swoops an interloper with billions to throw about. Cue serious interest.
Remember Kerry Packer in 1977, grumpy at the Australian board's refusal to grant him TV rights.
He went out and started his own circus, paid the players immeasurably more than they were getting, put them in coloured clothing, used white balls, and lights, camera, action. The game as it had been known till then, was swept aside.
Not all his innovations worked. But player insecurity and a sense of unfairness about what they were earning, made Packer's job easier than it might otherwise have been.
The cricket world is far different now, with T20 leagues sprouting around the globe.
There's a pile of speculation and rumour, much of it likely to be wide of the mark, before anything more comes of the Essel move.
A pile of detail is still to come, so sit tight for now. But be aware the wind is stirring the trees.
Chandra started the ICL after being denied lucrative television rights to international and domestic cricket in India. Sound familiar? On a range of fronts, cricket is entering a tricky phase.
