Page 232 - IPL 2
P. 232
B ig names, big money and bigger ambition.
That’s how one thinks of Reliance Industries.
Mr. Mukesh Ambani extends this philosophy
to everything he does, including the Mumbai
Indians. He has as assets the biggest Indian
cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar, and big
hitter Sanath Jayasuriya, a couple of batsman
who have each been around for over 20 years.
Legends that have proven that Twenty20 cricket
isn’t just for the 20 year olds.
Reliance Industries had bought the Mumbai
Indians franchise bidding the highest price
among all the cities, 111 milllion dollars. If David
Shepherd had still been alive he would have
hopped on one foot. As it turned out the feared
Nelson had the effect on the Mumbai Indians
too. The team simply never found its feet and
failed to make it to the knock out stages of the
inaugural season.
Season 1 was a forgotten story. Now with Sachin
available for the entire tournament, a pair of
strike bowlers, Lasith Malinga would share the
new ball with Zaheer Khan. Zaheer had been
acquired in a pre season transfer deal with
Royal Challengers Bangalore. So Robin Utthapa
headed to his hometown and Zaheer to his. The
middle order was strengthened by West Indian
all rounder Dwayne Bravo and South African bat
JP Duminy, acquired in a fierce bidding war for
close to a million dollars. The Mumbai Indians
sachin tendulkar sanath jayasuriya were now looking like a different team. And
220 MUMBAI INDIANS MUMBAI INDIANS 221