Rajasthan Royals needed the glamour quotient: Shilpa Shetty
Friday, 6 February 2009
In the headlines for buying stakes in the Indian Premier League (IPL) team Rajasthan Royals with boyfriend Raj Kundra, Shilpa Shetty admits candidly that she has joined in to add glamour to the team and not because of her business acumen.
"Well I am not going to bullshit myself into believing I've been brought in for my business acumen. The team had it all. They needed the glamour quotient and for that I am here," Shilpa told IANS.
"But please, I am not going to be one of the pom-pom girls on the field, if that's what the spectators expect. I'm certainly not going to be the eye candy of the venture," she added.
Shilpa and London-based businessman Kundra Tuesday bought a 12 percent stake in Rajasthan Royals.
Asked her where her glamour quotient will be used, she said: "In the music video, to begin with. Our next move is to shoot a music video. We want it to be the slickest and the best. Of course, I'll be in it. Isn't that a given?"
Excerpts:
Q: Now that you are part-owner of the Rajasthan Royals what plans do you have for the team?
A: If you're asking me this to find out how keenly I'm interested in this new venture then let me tell you I'm hands on into it. When Raj Kundra and and I decided to take the plunge into the IPL, we did it with our eyes open and after much deliberation. In hindsight, it appears uncanny because among all the IPL teams I've always felt the most connected with the Rajasthan Royals.
Q: What would your contribution to the team be?
A: Well I am not going to bullshit myself into believing I've been brought in for my business acumen. The team had it all. They needed the glamour quotient and for that I am here. But please, I am not going to be one of the pom-pom girls on the field, if that's what the spectators expect. I'm certainly not going to be the eye candy of the venture.
Q: So where will your glamour quotient come in?
A: In the music video, to begin with. Our next move is to shoot a music video. We want it to be the slickest and the best. Of course, I'll be in it. Isn't that a given? I've so many commitment in the coming months including my two films Sunny Deol's "The Man" and R. Sarath's "Desire" to complete. I'm not signing films crazily. So I can devote the time I want for the IPL.
Q: So you're ready to bounce again?
A: (Laughs) You could say that. Doing it for my own venture would be a pleasure.
Q: Will Raj direct the music video?
A: Ah, that would be telling. Let's see. Raj is a crazy cricket fan. And why shouldn't he be? He's an Indian who lives in England. All Indian men are crazy about cricket. And everyone knows cricket was born in England. So Raj has a double reason to buy a part of the IPL.
Q: What about you?
A: I love cricket. I've inherited it from my father who's the craziest cricket fan I've ever met. The Rajasthan Royals is my gift to my father.
Q: I thought it was Raj's Valentine gift for you?
A: Please! I'm sure there're other gifts awaiting me for Valentine's Day.
Q: Like a marriage proposal?
A: That's mine for the asking anytime. Now that Raj is shifting business interests in India we just need to find the right moment to take the plunge.
Q: The Bollywood-cricket merger seems to be expanding?
A: It had to be that way. Shah Rukh Khan and then Preity Zinta went for the IPL. For me, the right moment to do so was when Raj was ready for it. Now I must make sure I've enough time to devote to the Rajasthan Royals. I'll be there for their first match in March and all subsequent matches. Yeh mera vada hai (I promise that).
Posted by Gaurav Shukla 02:19 1 comments
Labels: Rajasthan Royals, Shilpa Shetty
Final list of players sold in IPL auction
The following is the list of 16 players sold at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction here Friday:
Sixteen out of the available 17 slots were bought by the eight IPL franchisees in the auction that lasted a little over two hours.
Players-Country-Team-Price
Kevin Pietersen (England) Bangalore Royal Challengers, $1.55 million
Andrew Flintoff (England) Chennai Super Kings, $1.55 million
Jean-Paul Duminy (South Africa) Mumbai Indians, $950,000
Shaun Tait (Australia) Rajasthan Royals, $375,000
Fidel Edwards (West Indies) Deccan Chargers $150,000
Paul Collingwood (England) Delhi Daredevils, $275,000
Owais Shah (England) Delhi Daredevils, $275,000
Ravi Bopara (England) Kings XI Punjab, $450,000
Tyron Henderson (South Africa) Rajasthan Royals, $650,000
Thilan Thusara (Sri Lanka) Chennai Super Kings, $140,000
Jesse Ryder (New Zealand) Bangalore Royal Challengers, $160,000
Kyle Mills (New Zealand) Mumbai Indians, $150,000
Jerome Taylor (West Indies), Kings XI Punjab, $150,000
George Bailey (Australia) Chennai Super Kings, $50,000
Dwayne Smith (West Indies) Deccan Chargers $100,000
Mashrafe Mortaza (Bangladesh) Kolkata Knight Riders $600,000
Teams: Rajasthan Royals (2 players), Kolkata Knight Riders (1), Bangalore Royal Challengers (2), Deccan Chargers (2), Chennai Super Kings (3), Mumbai Indians (2), Delhi Daredevils (2), Kings XI Punjab (2).
Unsold players: Stuart Clark, Brad Haddin, Chamara Kapugedara, Samit Patel, Shakib-al-Hassan, Morne Van Wyk, Stephen Smith, Ashley Noffke, Gulam Bodi, Mohammed Ashraful, Darren Powell, Ashwell Prince, Phil Jaques, Andre Nel, Luke Wright, Nuwan Kulasekara, Tamim Iqbal, Jon Moss, Bryce McGain, James Franklin, Aiden Blizzard, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Michael Klinger, Kaushalya Weeraratne, Prasanna Jayawardene, Dominic Thornley, Yusuf Abdulla, Daniel Harris, Kemar Roach, Aaron Bird, Michael Dighton, Michael Hill, Brett Geeves
Posted by Gaurav Shukla 02:19 0 comments
Labels: IPL
Bangladesh's Mortaza snapped by Knight Riders for $600,000
Shah Rukh Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders snapped up Bangladesh fast bowler Mashrafe Mortaza for a whopping $600,000 after an intense round of bidding, and the longest in the auction of players for the Indian Premier League (IPL), against Preity Zinta's Kings XI Punjab here Friday.
Mortaza's base price was $50,000 and Knight Riders were the first to take the call before Preity pitched in aggressively in what turned out to be a virtual war between two Bollywood stars that continued for 20 minutes.
Actress Juhi Chawla, co-owner of Knight Riders, piloted the bid in the absence of Shah Rukh.
Mortaza has now become the highest paid Bangladeshi cricketer.
The 25-year-old, who hails from Jessore, is the spearhead of Bangladesh bowling and has 135 wickets from 103 ODIS.
The strategy behind buying Mortaza was to increase the catchment area of Kolkata Knight Riders to neighbouring areas like Bangladesh, experts said.
Posted by Gaurav Shukla 02:18 0 comments
Labels: Kolkata Knight Riders, Sourav Ganguly
Cricket, barons and Bollywood stars - its all happening in Goa
Considering the monies at stake, Goa's famed five star facility, the Fort Aguada resort, could well be called Fort Knox for a day with millions of dollars at stake as film stars and industrialists outbid each other at the Indian Premier League's (IPL) second players auction here Friday.
The bidding extravaganza of the glitzy cricket league got off to a crackling start with England players Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen being sold for a whopping $1.55 million each to Chennai Super Kings and Bangalore Royal Challengers, respectively.
Dressed in a flaming red beach shirt, tycoon and Bangalore Royal Challengers owner Vijay Mallya strolled in looking sleepy from his majestic Kingfisher villa nearby into the bidding area, which was out of bounds for the media.
But by the time the first round of bidding was over, Mallya had the widest grin around. His Bangalore Royals, which was trashed by the competition last time, had picked up arguably the most sought after player this year -- English all-rounder Pietersen.
Pietersen was the last cricketer to go under the hammer at the first round of auctioneering and that, according to the flamboyant industrialist, worked to his advantage.
"I would have preferred to pay more," Mallya quipped at a post bidding press conference with high profile pointsman of the IPL Lalit Modi and N. Sreenivas of Chennai Super Kings.
"By the time we came to Pietersen, the others had already spent their money on the others. I was happy," Mallya said. The liqour baron also said he was happy with his purchase and that Pietersen would improve the balance of his team, especially the batting aspect.
Sreenivas, however, was more circumspect, although he spent the same amount of money on the Yorkshire lad and stellar British all-rounder Flintoff.
"We were targeting him. We are glad we got Flintoff," Sreenivas said.
Nearly an hour later, the portly businessmen accompanying Modi on the dais were replaced by svelte Bollywood stars Shilpa Shetty, who recently picked up a stake in the Rajasthan Royals, and Preity Zinta, representing the Kings XI Punjab.
Zinta's prized buy in the third round of bidding was English all-rounder Ravi Bopara, who went for nearly $300,000 above his basic bidding price at $450,000.
Responding to questions from the media, Shilpa admitted that she was quite the novice as compared to her celluloid colleague Zinta, who is co-owner of the team with industrialist boyfriend Ness Wadia.
The other star presence was Juhi Chawla, who co-owns the Kolkata Knight Riders team with Shah Rukh Khan, and outbid Zinta to snap up Bangladesh fast bowler Mashrafe Mortaza for a whopping $600,000 after an intense round of bidding, the longest IPL bid.
Posted by Gaurav Shukla 02:17 0 comments
Labels: Board of Control for Cricket in India, IPL
