A captive audience that made light of a near three-hour wait ushered in Bangalore’s representatives at the Indian Premier League with more than muted approbation as the Red and Yellow brigade was unveiled at a City hotel, with skipper Rahul Dravid at the forefront alongside recuperating Indian paceman Zaheer Khan and new swing bowling hero Praveen Kumar, the man of the match in two of India’s last three games at the tri-series in Australia.

Full of beans
Franchise owner Dr Vijay Mallya was full of beans as he exuded tremendous confidence at his team’s prospects. Taking the gathering through the auction process in Mumbai last month, Mallya spoke of how he was no more than a spectator as Dravid and Chief Executive Officer Charu Sharma handled the bidding process with aplomb.

A winning team
“Rahul asked me if I was looking for a glamorous team or a winning team,” Mallya revealed. “To me, glamour can be created. I have always been for a winning team.” Mallya added that, immediately after the first round of bidding had been concluded, he had been flooded with messages congratulating him on assembling a very good Test side. “Rahul told me then that Test cricket was like scotch, 50-over cricket like Indian liquor and Twenty20 cricket was like country-made liquor. Test specialists can adapt to other versions, but Twenty20 specialists will struggle to adapt to the Test match format.”

In all, 13 of the Royal Challengers’ 23-strong squad was in attendance, made up entirely of Indian stars. Conspicuous by his absence was Indian Test captain Anil Kumble, away in Dubai on a prior commitment; also present were Chief Cricket Officer Martin Crowe and coach Venkatesh Prasad.

The Royal Challengers, the second highest bidders to own a franchise behind the Mukesh Ambani-owned Mumbai Indians, will host the tournament opener on April 18, against Kolkata Knight Riders, a battle between former Indian skippers Dravid and Sourav Ganguly. Promising a high-voltage inaugural ceremony, Mallya also held out the promise of ‘memorable and exciting’ cricket. “Enthusiasm, glamour and fun will be the cornerstone,” he said.
“Ours is a team that encapsulates the spirit of Bangalore for the thrill of the nation,” Mallya crowed. “We are committed to creating a name for ourselves as a leading player on the global canvas — be it the business of brands or sports.”

The only picks
Mallya said the only players he had got to pick in his squad were Pakistani vice-captain Misbah-ul-Haq and Indian under-19 skipper Virat Kohli.

Between them, Dravid’s men and Mallya’s boys will be determined to ensure that the man who brought the sword of Tipu Sultan to Karnataka is successful in his endeavour to become the man who owns the winners of the inaugural edition of the most hyped cricket tournament in the world to date.