As Karnataka State Cricket Association Chairman, do you think you've been the most dynamic person that the Association has seen considering that KPL has actually materialised?
I cannot say that. We've had many many Chairmen, and many of them have contributed considerably to the growth and development of our cricket. Maybe I am one of them, but I cannot say that I'm the most dynamic person that has ever been on the scene in Karnataka. There have been many more and I don't even know if I'm dynamic or not, it's not for me to say, it's for the people to judge and I think only time will tell.

Karnataka is the first to come up with KPL, when others could also have done it. Was this your idea or did you have any assistance?
No, I will never say that it is my idea. It is something we decided with the company who got the tender for stadium rights, the Frontier Group.

They came up with the idea initially and someone mentioned it to me at the office. I told them to put it before the respective committees. And if the members approve, I have absolutely no objection at all to this form of the game.

After all, the first tournament of the Twenty20 was won by India and I think the whole thing caught on very well. It brought the crowds back, it caught the imagination of the youngsters all these factors have to be taken into consideration and I think this Twenty20 phenomenon is here to stay for a long time. Irrespective of what anyone thinks, the traditional version of the game shall and will continue but we are trying to live with the times and trying to have a tournament.

We administer and run that game of cricket and whatever revenue we get we would want to use for the infrastructure growth and development of cricket in Karnataka.

We need grounds for the purpose of promoting the game because the grounds of a lot of schools, colleges and even industries are no longer available. Most of the industries with grounds have wound up; their lands have been sold or may not be available for the game. Colleges prefer infrastructure development, because their subject has grown or different subjects are offered and so the space is no longer available.

Can you tell us about the Frontier Group?
They are a group that manages sporting events and stadium rights as well as in-stadium advertising in various countries around the world. I would say they are an international corporation. They have bases in UK, Australia and India. They are the agents who get in - stadium ads and they have been with us for some time during last time's tender process, they were the highest bidders. After negotiations we got a higher percentage from them.

What does Charu Sharma have to do with all of this?
Charu Sharma happens to be a spokesperson for the Frontier Group. He will also be handling production, TV franchises and match commentary on TV. He's a person who's got a good name in cricketing and he's very good in English commentary. He is in the industry and excels in it so he is helping us to carry out this whole event.

What is the projected income you expect to achieve from this?
From all the franchises that have bid, over a five year period we plan to get something like Rs. 35 crore. In addition, whatever revenue we get from TV franchises. Then there are a number of people who will be our TV sponsors. There has been a phenomenal amount of interest. A lot of channels have spoken to us from Delhi and so on, so we decided to have this process of tendering and they can come through that. But it is a very transparent method with which we are planning to hold the entire thing.

Are you disappointed that no Mysoreans have bid for the Mysore team?
A little.

What are the terms? Are the matches only going to be played at Manasa Gangotri, Mysore?
No, the matches and most of the tournament will be played in Bangalore and mostly under lights, that is, in the evenings. The tournaments in Mysore will be played during the day as we don't have flood lighting. We'll have the tournament for three days, 17th, 18th and 19th, and a total of six matches in Mysore.

So a total of six matches in Mysore in September?
Yes. Eventually we intend to have “home and away” matches in the time to come. We have eight franchises this time but we have ten locations that we'd organized. Maybe by next year or the year after those other two locations might also be auctioned off we may increase from eight to ten teams.

Do you have any caps on the player's pricing?
The pricing I think is fixed at six lakh for A - pool players. And for B - pool, which consists of different locations it should be in the range of about 15 - 20,000.

So the best player they have gets paid not more than Rs. 6 lakh a year?
Not one player, it is for all players together. The reason we have done this is, even in the IPL there is a franchise limit we want the franchisee not to bid too much so they are able to continue with the game for the period the franchise has been given to them.

One thing I specifically want to mention is that they bid and operate the team for a period of five years. After five years, with a 50 % increase of their original bid it will be continued for another period of five years. After two years, in their third year, the franchisee is allowed to sell up to 49% of their stake. Then of course they'll be allowed to sell the entire rights to another franchisee subject to that party being acceptable to us and upon terms and conditions that we indicate.

Isn't six lakh rupees too less…?
I understand you; we are not talking about players of national caliber. If the BCCI gives us permission to use player from other States, then the franchisees can contact the respective State Associations directly and hire anybody at a maximum cap of three lakh.

Isn't there any rule in the Karnataka State Cricket Association where only Karnataka players should be in the KPL teams? Or is it open to anybody from other States?
No. Any team representing Karnataka must have players from Karnataka.

So at present, a Ranji player from West Bengal can not come and play in KPL?
No, but our own players can play there.

You are currently the Chairman of KSCA and you are a committee member at the Mysore Race Club. Apart from this, you have a hotel project coming up… Can you handle all these positions together?
The hotel is personal business which can go on without interfering with other aspects. I've never had a problem handling many tasks. Only being in politics and trying to do something else as well is a problem because the demand on an elected representative in a political situation is very different. You have to be at the people's beck and call 24 / 7.

This is a different cup of tea altogether because here I need to be present in Bangalore for KPL only for two or three days a week. Here in Mysore, there is one meeting a month, normally held on a Wednesday.

What was your sudden interest in Mysore Race Club?
I have been on the committee for the past several years and left just for two years but now I have come back. There is a lot of infrastructure work that has to be done in the Mysore Race Club. Unfortunately, it hasn't progressed at the speed at which we had envisaged.

Racing has grown big. We have to meet the demands of having their stables on our own premises and currently we have about forty stables. We need to have at least 600 stables in the whole course by mid next year.

Will this affect the Golf Course?
No. Let me make it very clear. According to our by-laws, golf is one of the main objectives of our memorandum. There is no way we can cut golf or reduce the course. The course will have to be re-aligned. There is no hard and fast rule as to the extent of each hole. The number of holes can be reduced suitably but once we have a thousand stables we'll be able to cater to permanent and floating horses that come to Mysore.

Vikram Muthanna
Courtesy: Star of Mysore

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