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Smooth ride Vijay Mallya: ‘Skipper Dravid asked me whether I wanted glamour or performance and I told him ‘give me performance any day’

Cricket, commerce and Bollywood have always been on a path of convergence. And now with the imminent launch of the Indian Premier League at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on April 18, cricketing acumen, stardust and jingling cash registers are set to fire in unison.

The 44-day extravaganza will commence with the maiden match between the Vijay Mallya-owned Bangalore Royal Challengers led by Rahul Dravid and Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders led by Sourav Ganguly on April 18.

The tournament, that will pit eight City-based teams in the Twenty20 format, is also a dry run for queries like will the franchise-format work in cricket or will city-loyalty breed a stronger passion than patriotism.

The answers will be known this summer but before that for local fans, set to cheer Bangalore’s Royal Challengers, a few questions do remain. Questions like why is a Test opening batsman like Wasim Jaffer in the squad, does Jacques Kallis have the dash to be a champ in Twenty20 and many more.

The man who has staked his money on the team, Vijay Mallya, has his answers ready. “After the first round of auction in Mumbai, a few friends congratulated me on my Test team! I mentioned this to our captain Dravid and he laughed it off and told me that Test cricket is the ultimate test for any cricketer and if a player can do well in that format, then he can do well in all other formats, be it one day matches or Twenty20. Before the auction he asked me whether I wanted glamour or performance and I told him ‘give me performance any day’ and I also told him you have played with and against almost all the players who feature in this auction so you decide. I am happy with the team and he is excited,” Mallya said.

And on those queries about players like Jaffer, Kallis or a Shivnarine Chanderpaul in a Twenty20 format, Mallya said: “Dravid said, ‘boss if you play a delicate glance and the ball crosses the ropes or if you swing your bat and it crosses the ropes, it is always four runs’. He believes that Kallis with his all-round ability and Chanderpaul with his resilience are all players who will perform under pressure. He also said Jaffer can do well in this format. Dravid was very clear that on our pitches, we need a good bowling attack and he was particular about getting South African Dale Steyn, whom he regards as the quickest bowler around. He also wanted Zaheer Khan and Nathan Bracken. And to back them we have Anil Kumble. And when it comes to spin, you cannot have anyone bigger than Anil Kumble. We have a good team though I wish we also got local boy Robin Uthappa but these are all part of an auction.”

Meanwhile Charu Sharma, the Bangalore oufit’s CEO, also said he is happy with the team composition. “There are many limitations in an auction and we also had to bid with an eye on our team composition. We cannot try and bid for all the foreign players when the rule states that only four of them can be in the playing eleven. We also need to pick under-19 players and with Sunil Joshi, J. Arun Kumar, B. Akhil and others, we do have a good mix,” Charu said.

Skipper Rahul Dravid in his media interviews has reiterated that his squad has good potential and that the IPL concept which is new is bound to throw up exciting possibilities. Dravid however did add that IPL and the dash of Twenty20 will not diminish the importance of Test cricket. Meanwhile as the second round of auction concluded at Mumbai on Tuesday, news has trickled in that Pakistan’s Misbah Ul Haq has been recruited by the Bangalore team. It is another reflection of the team management’s idea of getting players who are proven performers rather than men who are stars with their own advertorial baggage. The team in a sense reflects the Dravid persona – focussed with no frills attached.

And from April 18, Bangaloreans can cry hoarse for a local team. But the larger question remains. Will fans who shy away from the Ranji Trophy matches, turn up for an inter-city match though it features big players? The BCCI and the team owners, who are banking on TRP ratings to boost ad revenue, are not perturbed but then there is nothing like some good old crowd support for the action out in the middle.

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