Date:23/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/23/stories/2008122361301700.htm

Business

RCB not for sale: Mallya

Bangalore: Vijay Mallya said that his IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore is not for sale and denied the earlier speculation over a probable disbanding of all his players as the transfer window opened at Mumbai.

In a press release, issued late on Monday night, Mallya said: “There has been some misinterpretation of a statement issued by my Bangalore office.

“I wish to clarify that the Royal Challengers Bangalore IPL team is not for sale and neither do we seek to transfer a majority of our current players.

“We have identified three foreign players who we will be willing to swap with other IPL teams, if possible, to achieve better team balance. If this does not happen, we will further strengthen the team.”

The team led by Rahul Dravid, had performed below-par during the IPL’s inaugural edition, finishing seventh among eight teams with a clutch of its key overseas players including Jacques Kallis yielding poor returns and midway the then CEO Charu Sharma was sacked and replaced by Brijesh Patel.

For the forthcoming edition, Ray Jennings has replaced Martin Crowe as the head coach. — Principal Correspondent