 Indian Premier League - Where cricket meets entertainment
17th Apr 2008 23:00 IST
Manish Kumar
Bangalore Royal Challengers: Led by Rahul Dravid, the designated icon player, Bangalore Royal Challengers will represent the city of Bangalore in the IPL. Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif, Upendra and Ramya are the Brand Ambassadors of the team.
The team is owned by the liquor magnate Vijay Mallya, the chairman of UB Group that has decided not to sell the sponsorship rights, instead the in-house brands such as Royal Challenge which was incorporated to create the Official logo and the official colors of the team.
Mallya wanted to associate one of his top-selling liquor brands, either 'No. 1 McDowell's' or 'Royal Challenge' with the team. Ultimately, 'Royal Challenge' was chosen, and hence the team was given the name 'Bangalore Royal Challengers'.
The jersey colours of the team are red and golden yellow, the same as the Karnataka state flag, and the logo consists of the RC emblem with 'Bangalore Royal Challengers' in standard format.
The mix of youth and experience is the strength of the Bangalore Royal Challengers team that has concentrated more on its batsmen than its bowlers. Young players like Shreevats Goswami, Virat Kohli, Ross Taylor and Cameron White can score runs quickly to complement the solid, experienced hands like Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Misbah-ul-Haq. The presence of young players makes the team an exuberant fielding side.
The bowling is spearheaded by Dale Steyn, whose rise in international cricket was as fast as his bowling speed as he has already gone past Allan Donald's record of the quickest South African to 100 Test wickets. But from thereon, the bowling looks fragile as Nathan Bracken is recovering from a foot injury and the availability of Steyn and Kallis for the full league is not guaranteed.
Zaheer Khan is also making a comeback from injury, which forced him to miss the home series against South Africa. Anil Kumble and swing bowler Parveen Kumar, a sensation in the recent Tri-Series in Australia, have to shoulder the responsibilities.
The Squad: Rahul Dravid (Captain), Abdur Razzak, Balachandra Akhil, KP Appanna, Jagadeesh Arunkumar, Mark Boucher (Wicketkeeper), Nathan Bracken, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Bharat Chipli, Shreevats Goswami (Wicketkeeper), Wasim Jaffer, Sunil Joshi, Jacques Kallis, Zaheer Khan, Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Anil Kumble, Misbah-ul-Haq, Devraj Patil, Dale Steyn, Ross Taylor, Vinay Kumar, Cameron White.
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