The Royal Challenger debacle:The blame game begins
Sitting at the bottom of the heap is not what Vijay Mallya is used to. A flamboyant and fantastically rich man, who has often been called the Richard Branson of Indian business, he is more used to clinching mega million deals and getting what he wants.
In 2007, like many other rich men(and women) from the world of business and entertainment, Mallya decided to invest in a cricket team in the Indian Premier League. This was not his first association with sports. For years, he has been keenly involved with horse racing.
When IPL decided to hold an auction for players Mallya must have been in his mettle, being used to bidding for fine horses for his racing ventures. Well, Mallya bid for what he thought were the best (and probably are) players and ended up with one of the most expensive teams of the league.
With Charu Sharma as the CEO, Venkatesh Prasad as the coach and Rahul Dravid as the captain, Mallya must have congratulated himself for having in place a winning combination. But this is the world of sports and not business and the best laid plans can come to naught in the face of determined and strong opposition. Halfway through the IPL season, Mallya has found his team sitting at the second last position and the morale of the whole team at rock bottom.
Not used to seeing a bad balance sheet and not doing anything, Mallya has ‘risen’ to the occasion and has set his plan, to stem the rot, into action. As in the world of business, so in cricket, Charu Sharma the man with the impressive title of CEO has got the axe. Not satisfied with just firing the man who was responsible for putting the Royal Challengers team together, Mallya has come out in the open to make public his many grievances.He is most upset with Charu Sharama and the suggestions he gave Mallya at all stages.He says Charu discouraged him from bidding for the players that he wanted to be a part of his team.
First to get the blame is the axed CEO. Apparently he and Rahul Dravid were the ones to convince Mallya that a test team was good enough to play any form of the game. It is surprising that Mallya poured so much money into a game he understands so little. Almost all those who follow the IPL tournament have been saying from day one that Bangalore has the best test team. This was no compliment but a sarcastic comment on the composition of a team that was stepping out to play T-20 cricket, the short and vigorous form of the game.
Rahul has looked tense and uncomfortable from the opening match where his team got thrashed by Shahrukh’s Knights. He has played lack luster innings and has been unable to rally his forces to face up to the challenges posed by the opponents. With Mallya now on war path Rahul’s troubles are only going to multiply. To add insult to injury Mallya has already said in public that, “unfortunately in cricket the captain takes all the decisions.” This cannot be seen as anything other than a veiled threat to Dravid, that, he is now in direct line of fire.
Whether this kind of ‘hire and fire’ system of working will bring about the desired results in the game of cricket is anybody’s guess. All one can do is wait and watch what this kind of pressurizing does to the hapless Dravid and his boys. As a fan of the game I am not happy with Mallya attacking his team half way through the tournament. He could have waited for this season to be over and then analyzed and made changes accordingly. But then it is not my money and prestige that is on the line.
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