Page 119 - IPL 2

“

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE
What was the difference in your team’s preparation this season as compared to Season 1?
The team pretty much remained the same, although, we had a change in captaincy. We also had a new coach. A Owner: UB Group
combination of both these factors successfully unleashed the full talent of our players. The commitment and hunger Chairman: Dr.Vijay Mallya
to win was very positive. During IPL 1 it was, sometimes, a learning experience as nobody knew what to expect.
Having learnt from IPL 1, we were focused on performance during IPL 2. Captain: Anil Kumble

You had quite an enviable line up of foreign pros, but you still paid the highest amount for Kevin Pietersen? Players (in alphabetical order):
We are proud of our player line-up and we bid the market rate for Kevin Pietersen. Do not forget that there was an K P Appanna
IPL determined reserve price for Kevin. We acquired him very close to his reserve price. Don’t forget that many other Balachandra Akhil
players have been acquired at auction for up to 10 times their reserve price. So, I think I did well in acquiring one of Saurav Bandekar
the world’s fi nest batsman. Rajesh Bishnoi

Mark Boucher
The team’s fortunes changed as soon as Kumble took over after Pieterson left. Do you think that Kumble captained Nathan Bracken
the team better than KP? Rahul Dravid
Sreevats Goswami
Rahul Dravid and Kevin Pieterson were and are great captains. Anil Kumble is an equally great captain who made Wasim Jaffer
an extraordinary effort to pull the team together and approach each ball, not just each game, with a winning spirit. Jacques Kallis

Virat Kohli
You must’ve been very proud at how the old guard held the team together? They showed that experience can Bhuvneshwar Kumar

outperform youth. Praveen Kumar
It was a combination of youth and the old guard. Don’t forget that Manish Pandey was the only Indian to score a Vinay Kumar
Roelof van der Merwe
century during IPL 2. Abhimanyu Mithun

Manish Pandey
I believe that any team that plays such an aggressive format must have a good blend of youngsters and experienced Udit Patel

players. RCB is exactly in this position Jitendra Patil
Kevin Pietersen

What were your thoughts on the eve of the fi nal? Dillon du Preez
Sutesh R.
My heart was in my mouth and there were butterfl ies in my stomach, apart from palpitations, not just on the eve of Jesse Ryder
the fi nal, but, during the preceding games that got us into the fi nals too. I put on a brave face both before and after Arvind S.
those games. Karan Sharma
Pankaj Singh

Who are the other players you admire in the IPL? Dale Steyn
There are many seriously talented players in the IPL - both Indian and International. I would love to have many of Ross Taylor
Robin Uthappa
them in RCB. It would not be fair to mention some names and leave out others as the list is long. The most important Cameron White
thing is that I am personally proud that the world’s best cricketers play in the IPL.

Coach: Ray Jennings
In terms of the business, what initiatives are you taking toward brand building and talent development?
The UB Group is one of the foremost consumer product marketing companies in India and we have built some of the Support Staff:
world’s largest selling brands. To us, RCB is an opportunity to create a world class brand, once again. Eric Simons
Avinash Vaidya
Evan Speechly
Your thoughts looking forward to season 3?
We have made a few changes to our player line-up to achieve better balance. The availability of international players “
has played a great infl uencing role. I am confi dent that RCB will put on a grand show in IPL 3.

108 ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE 109