Bangalore Royal Challengers is the team that is going to represent the city of Bangalore in the Indian Premier League, the inaugural Twenty20 cricket tournament to be held in India. The team is owned by the liquor magnate Vijay Mallya, the chairman of UB Group.[3] Charu Sharma is the CEO of the team and Rahul Dravid, the captain of the team is the Icon Player. Martin Crowe, the former New Zealand captain, has also been signed as a member of the management team.[4] Venkatesh Prasad, the former Indian fast bowler and the present bowling coach of India has been declared the coach for the team.
Franchise history
Indian Premier League is a cricket tournament being organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI - the governing body for cricket in India), and backed by the International Cricket Council.[5] For the inaugural tournament to be held in Apr-Jun 2008, the BCCI had finalised a list of 8 teams who will be participating in the tournament. The teams representing 8 different cities of India, including Bangalore, were put up on auction in Mumbai on 20 February 2008 and the Bangalore team was won by Vijay Mallya, who paid US$111.6 million for it. This was the second highest bid for a team in the IPL, next only to Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries' bid of $111.9 million for the Mumbai team.[6]
Sponsors
The team owners UB Group have decided not to sell the sponsorship rights; instead the in-house brands such as Royal Challenge which was incorporated to create the Official logo and the official colors of the team. Further, the space of the title sponsor has been given to the same brand. The stand names at the home ground have been replaced by the names of other brands such as McDowells and Bagpiper. Reebok is the official merchandise sponsor.
Indian film stars Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif, Upendra and Ramya were signed as the brand ambassadors of the franchise.[7]
Etymology
Vijay Mallya wanted to associate one of his top-selling liquor brands, either 'No. 1 McDowell's' or 'Royal Challenge' with the team.[8]Ultimately, 'Royal Challenge' was chosen, and hence the team was given the name 'Bangalore Royal Challengers'. The jersey colours of the team are red and golden yellow, the same as the Karnataka state flag, and the logo consists of the RC emblem with 'Bangalore Royal Challengers' in standard format.
Fan Club
The RC fans have already created a fan Club and its theme song Thaakath Geethe has grown popularity among youth....
Players
The players in the team (except for Rahul Dravid, who was the Icon Player), were selected in an auction conducted by BCCI on 20 February 2008. South Africa's Jacques Kallis at $900,000 became the costliest player to be selected to play for the Royal Challengers. This meant that Rahul Dravid, being the Icon Player would be paid $1,035,000 (15% more than the highest bid player in the team). Other players selected included the Indian Test cricket captain Anil Kumble along with his team-mates Praveen Kumar and Zaheer Khan, West Indian Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Aussies Nathan Bracken and Cameron White, South Africa's Mark Boucher (Wicket Keeper) and Dale Steyn.
Current squad
Batsmen
Wicket Keepers / All Rounders
Bowlers
Administration and coaching staff
Front Office:
Coaches:
Fixtures and results
Bangalore Royal Challengers 2008 Season
