Sport - Cricket

Crowe confident

Bangalore: Martin Crowe, the newly appointed Chief Cricket Officer of the Bangalore Royal Challengers, expressed confidence that his team could win the Indian Premier League.

“We want to be the inaugural winners of the Indian Premier League. As a CCO, my role is to be the team’s front person to both the fans and the media. Our team, hand picked by Rahul (Dravid) and Vijay Mallya, has people with integrity, humility and we have also balanced it with youth.

“Our bowling is really good and we look to play intelligent cricket. Twenty20 is not just thrash and bash,” the former New Zealand skipper told the media in an informal chat at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Wednesday.

Crowe also stressed that Twenty20 will not have any negative impact on cricket. “Twenty20 encourages people to love cricket. We have three viable forms of cricket now and in Twenty20, the side that wins will be the side that plays the best fundamental game. It is good for young cricketers when they line up alongside Dravid, Kallis and Kumble,” Crowe said.

Meanwhile, skipper Dravid emphasised that the IPL’s success will depend on the quality of cricket on display. “It is a new concept and whether we succeed will be known in time. It also brings international players in to a domestic tournament and it will be interesting to see how the fans react to the city concept.

About his team, Dravid said: “Excited to share a dressing room with players like Kallis and Bracken.We wanted people who believe in the concept of a team and we interacted with some of the players we picked and they are all excited.”

Meanwhile Venkatesh Prasad, the team’s coach, said that though the team has players more famous for their skills in the Test arena, he was confident about their success.

“Our key players have plenty of experience and can adapt to different forms of the game. A good ball is a good ball in any form of the game,” Prasad said.

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