Chak de IPL!: Owner's Pride in Indian Premier League

By John Cheeran
Now without Googling, can you tell me who owns the Rajasthan Royals?
Or for that matter who owns the Chennai Super Kings?
Answers are slow to come forth, I guess.
Compared to Vijay Mallyas, Preity Zintas and Shah Rukh Khans of the Indian Premier League franchise world, these owners (Chennai and Rajasthan) are less visible and that may have contributed to their teams’ invincible streak in the IPL.
Rajasthan Royals, incidentally, are owned by Emerging Media under Lachlan Murdoch and Suresh Chellaram. Have you seen these guys on television during the IPL or basking in the glory of Shane Warne, Swapnil Asnodkar, Yousuf Pathan and Shane Watson?
No, right?
And what about Chennai Super Kings?
Yes, N. Srinivasan is the treasurer of the BCCI and he also runs the Chennai-based firm India Cements. Srinivasan is the vice-chairman and managing director of India Cements.
Srinivasan, though having close links with the BCCI, never flaunted his position and proved the cultural contrast between an austere Chennai and a brash Bangalore.
Murdoch and Srinivasan treated their players in a professional manner and gave them the freedom to think cricket instead of jumping themselves on the attention bandwagon. Such management ethics are ideal in any environment; whether you are producing cement or running a cricket franchise.
The inaugural IPL has proved that Twenty 20 is not driven by gimmicks. No sloganeering or cheer leading could influence the outcome of a cricket match. Had it been so, the IPL final should have been played between Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders and Preity Zinta’s King’s XI Punjab.
And for all his love of cricket where was SRK on the night of IPL final?
At least television screens did not show his face; neither that of Preity Zinta.
It was a pity that the man who flew to Johannesburg to cheer the Indian team during the Twenty20 World Cup final against Pakistan stayed away from the Dr Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
How lucky we are that Aamir Khan did not buy the IPL franchise rights and name the side Lagaan!
Chak De IPL!