Vettori looks to Kumble for inspiration

Bangalore: Daniel Vettori is counting on the experience of Indian spin great Anil Kumble as he begins his first stint as captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League.

Vettori, part of the Delhi Daredevils line-up in the first three seasons, was Tuesday named as skipper of the franchise owned by multi-millionaire liquor baron Vijay Mallya.

Kumble, the former India and Bangalore captain, retired from all forms of the game earlier this year and has taken up the role of mentor for the team.

"Anil's presence is really important for me," New Zealand left-arm spinner Vettori was quoted as saying in The Hindu newspaper on Thursday.

"He has led this team extremely well in the past. His knowledge of the conditions, the team, players and his overall expertise of the game is exceptional.

"From a personal point of view and team's point of view, Anil's presence will be immensely beneficial."

Bangalore had a disastrous first season in 2008, finishing seventh in a field of eight teams, but fared much better in the next two editions. They were the losing finalists in 2009 and finished third last year.

Packed with such powerhouse performers as India's Virat Kohli and Sri Lankan Tillakaratne Dilshan, the side is eyeing their first title win in the cash-rich Twenty20 championship.

Vettori said he will be helped by the fact that three of his current teammates had played with him for Delhi.

"Dilshan, AB (de Villiers) and (Dirk) Nannes have been around with me for three years, and so it will be a bit comfortable for us as a group to come and be part of the new environment," he said.

Vettori retired from international T20s and quit the ODI captaincy after the World Cup, where he led the Black Caps to the semi-finals.

Tendulkar & co eye missing IPL crown

Reliance Industries' Mukesh Ambani-owned Mumbai Indians can now be called 'dream team' not just because it has Sachin Tendulkar in it. Besides Tendulkar, this bunch has a couple of cricketers, who, by combining together, will be a marketing man's dream come true.

Just imagining Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds walk out on the field together to play for the same team gives one goose pimples!

It is the ultimate cricketing fantasy coming true. Two cricketers, who were embroiled in 'Monkeygate' - one of the biggest feuds to have gripped the sport three years back - will now turn out in the same colours!

While both bring a tremendous amount of skills on the table with their explosive all-round abilities, it is the chemistry, or maybe the lack of it, between them, that will gather maximum eyeballs, which of course, will be focused on cricket's most famous World Cup winner Tendulkar too.

Add the explosive Kieron Pollard, 'slinger par excellence' Lasith Malinga and the precociously talented Rohit Sharma to the mix, and you have a 'Super Six' who can be called the USP of Mumbai Indians this season. Every other team in the IPL would envy and fear the kind of ammunition MI have up their sleeve. These six big guns, if they fire as well as they can, will be enough to blow away any opposition to smithereens.

Tendulkar, of course, would be keen now to add the IPL crown as the cherry on his 'World Cup cake'. The maestro batted brilliantly to steer his team into the final last season, and would look to go one better this time.

Coach Robin Singh will be relived by the fact that the support cast looks good too. Ambati Rayudu, R Satish and new signing T Suman performed well last season, and South African wicket-keeper batsman David Jacobs, who impressed with his big-hitting during the Champions League in South Africa, will be a useful value addition.

Munaf Patel, who seems to be bowling as well as he has ever done in his life, should provide Malinga good support in the pace department. The stress this time seems to have been on all-rounders, which explains the purchases of James Franklin and Moises Henriques.

The youth wing of the side looks in good shape too, with seamers Dhawal Kulkarni, Abu Nechim and Mumbai U-19 batsman Suryakumar Yadav promising much for the future. So, will Tendulkar be smiling again on the night of May 28? It's time his IPL dream comes true too. On sheer talent, this team deserves the title. Perhaps the Master Blaster would be fourth-time lucky.

Watch out, opposition

Captain: After winning the World Cup, Sachin Tendulkar will be keen to add the only trophy missing from his glorious cabinet.

Coach and support staff: Robin Singh was coach of Deccan Chargers in Season I, but the team finished bottom of the table. In Season III, he joined Mumbai Indians and took them all the way to the final.

Key players

Andrew Symonds: He is not a part of the Aussie set-up anymore, but he possesses game-changing talent both with bat and ball. His fielding is brilliant too. His big-hitting will add to MI's power in the middle.

Kieron Pollard: No batsman hits the ball harder and longer in the game today and he showed that in the league game against Delhi Daredevils in Mumbai and the semis against Royal Challengers. MI will be banking on the big Trinidadian to do the business again.

Lasith Malinga: Was treated as one of their own by the Mumbai crowd and was cheered lustily even though he dismissed Tendulkar in the World Cup final.

Squad: Sachin Tendulkar (C), Harbhajan Singh, Munaf Patel, Rohit Sharma, Abu Nechim, Aditya Tare, Ali Murtaza, Ambati Rayudu, Dhawal Kulkarni, Pawan Suyal, R Satish, SK Yadav, Sarul Kanwar, T Suman, Yuzvendra Chahal, Aiden Blizzard, Andrew Symonds, David Jacobs, Dilhara Fernando, James Franklin, Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, Moises Henriques.

toi

IPL-4 set to start with a bang on high viewership

MUMBAI: The fourth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is expected to be bigger, if not better, in terms of business even without Lalit Modi at the helm. It will be bigger largely on account of ticket sales and sponsorship deals clinched individually by the ten teams has been able to muscle in for itself.

To top it all, television viewership-the big money spinner for the IPL-is expected to grow by 20% from 143 million that the tournament clocked last year. On the back of this figurencreased viewership , SET Max, the official broadcaster of the tournament, expects to rake in a plum Rs 1,000 crore in ad revenue, up from about Rs 700 crore it pocketed last year.

The growth has been consistent over the last three editions of IPL.

"We have seen this trend from the first edition of the tournament, when the viewership was about 90 million. The number has now jumped significantly. The trajectory is expected to continue this year too," said Rohit Gupta, president, Multi Screen Media, which owns SET Max.

However, nothe tea may not be on a roll. While some of the bigger teams have been able to command a premium of about 20-25% compared to last year from sponsors, others have not had it that great. Things are not all rosy for these franchisees as they battle a format change, rebuilding teams and lack of time between the end of the high-pressure World Cup and the IPLstart of the Twenty20 tournament.

"At the moment, we are not sure about how much better we will do this year in terms of business. But there has been a steady increase in all the revenue streams. But it will be a watershed year considering the kind of changes we have gone through," said Amrit Mathur, CEO, Delhi Daredevils, one of the few teams which has consistently made profits. Mathur said Delhi Daredevils has almost sold out tickets for its opening match against Mumbai Indians and expects the same for its other fixtures. Franchisees can earn anywhere between Rs 20-25 crore from ticket sales alone if it's a full house.

Even on the commercial side, most contracts have been renegotiated or signed afresh for this year considering the sponsorship deals were for three years. "We have been able to add 17 sponsors this year and expect ticket sales also to grow substantially," said Raghu Iyer, CMO, Rajasthan Royals. But what is worrying the teams is that they cannot raise the entry prices for tickets as it will deter fans from making it to the stadium.

Besides, the local revenue where the team sells sponsorship for player's uniforms and earns through ticket sales, franchisees also earn a share of the central pool. The central sponsorship is pegged at Rs 35-40 crore per brand annually. DLF, Vodafone, Citibank and Volkswagen are the official partners.

Team owners said what has really taken a toll this year on most of the teams is the lack of brand building before the tournament, specially for the two new teams -Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Pune Warriors-since the World Cup ended just a week before the IPL was to start.

toi