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It's a dream team: Vimal

Last Updated 22 July 2013, 19:29 IST

Banga Beats, the Bangalore outfit of the Indian Badminton League, felt they have got a “dream team” with Parupalli Kashyap as its icon player.

Banga Beats chief coach Vimal Kumar was kicked at getting a player of the quality of Kashyap for around Rs 45 lakhs which allowed them to bid freely for other players.  
“To get Kashyap for that amount was a real deal. We had kept a higher purse for him. We wanted Pradnya Gadre as she is a good doubles player. We were bidding for her but then the price got too high for us. But we got Aparna Balan. It is a balanced bunch and I am quite satisfied,” said Kumar.

Kumar felt they have a strong singles unit in place with the presence of World No six men player Hu Yun of Hong Kong, World No 8 women’s player Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei and Spain’s promising women’ singles player Carolina Marin, who is ranked 26th in the world.

“We got Yun, Ying and Marin at their base prices and that turned out to be really good for us. All are very good singles players. In fact, Ying even beat Saina recently. So, we have a strong singles group keeping in mind the format of the tournament,” Kumar said.

Amit Mavi, the managing director, BOP Group, who owns Banga Beats, said he got the team he was hoping for. “We knew everyone would go after Saina or Lee Chong Wei. It is not that we did not want them but we had a price limit. There are five matches in the format and we need to win all of them, not one. We have got good players to play in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. We have got the dream team,” Mavi said.

Kumar, admitted things got a bit chaotic ahead of the auction but hoped no such glitches would be faced during the tournament. “It is the first year, so it is ok. But now it is for organisers to ensure the event is held smoothly.”

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(Published 22 July 2013, 19:28 IST)

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