Mallya Regrets Selection As Royal Challengers Fizzle Out

MONDAY, May 12, (News Locale) - Having expressed his confidence that Royal Challengers will be able to turn around their poor form and kick start their Indian Premier League campaign, franchisee owner Vijay Mallya finally blew his lid after eight matches of sub standard cricket from his side.

Bemoaning his decision of leaving the selection matters of the team to former CEO Charu Sharma and captain Rahul Dravid, Mallya revealed that he had prepared a list of players that he though would have been perfect for his side.

However on seeing that Dravid and Sharma had prepared their own list, Mallya let the duo dictate the auction proceedings. Mallya said that his friends expressed shock at the squad selection after the auction, terming the Royal Challengers' side as a test team, but the liquor baron backed his side since he trusted Dravid's judgment.

Now eight matches into the season, the Royal Challengers find themselves at the foot of the table with just two wins. Royal Challengers' poor start to the season has already claimed its first victim with Sharma being shown the door. Brijesh Patel, Secretary of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) was appointed as the new CEO of the side with doubts also being raised over Venkatesh Prasad's future as the coach.

Mallya said that on being questioned over the side's poor performance, Sharma was always able to come up with excuses ranging from poor training facilities to lack of bonding between the players. The ex-commentator has reportedly washed his hands off the selection matters, stating that the only advice that he had given Mallya was to trust the judgment of his captain and coach.

Royal Challengers play Kings XI Punjab next at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday and will be hoping to avoid a second successive defeat to the Preity Zinta owned franchise after having already lost the away tie by six wickets.

1. 12-05-2008 18:03

It is good that at least now Mr. Mallya has decided to react (given that still there is time for RCB to make wonders). The first mistake that Mr. Mallya did is having Dravid as the captain of the team. He himself is not an established T20 player and has no idea of timing oneself. Personally, by the time he settles down to play, the match would have been over and he is not able to realize that time is short in T20 as against test matches. This same attitude and approach is being promulgated into the other team members, which is overall affecting the team's performance. Seeing the last two matches that RCB played, it is clearly evident that they just lost because of delay in putting their thoughts into action and not because they lack skill. Since Mr. Mallya has now decided to correct the mistakes, it would be at the best interest of the team to interrogate Dravid's captaincy and replace if necessary. As long as the captain does not have a clear-cut vision, it's like a blind man leading a group of blind men and whatever changes are brought in may not yield expected results. Wishing all the best to RCB!!!

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