Dubai: The mood in the Kings XI Punjab camp is upbeat — and it’s not just because of them notching their first win in two games in IPL VIII on Sunday night.
The runners-up in the last edition recorded their first profit in the 2014 season and look forward to vindicating the growing faith from sponsors in the ongoing edition with another solid performance.
“We made a decent profit for the first time after managing to break even in the 2013 season after five seasons. The response from the sponsors has been also the best, including title sponsors Tata Motors,” said Mohit Burman, a co-owner of the franchise.
Speaking to Gulf News from India, Burman — a co-promoter of Kings XI Punjab along with Ness Wadia, Karan Paul and Preity Zinta — said the franchise is close to developing a sustainable business model, though he does not see the possibility of franchises becoming listed companies on the stock exchange like many English Premier League (EPL) or NBA clubs anytime soon.
There is a lot of positive vibes for the new season after a power-packed performance by Kings XI last time, when they recorded their best-ever performance and qualified for the Champions League T20.
“At one point last year, we were eight points ahead of the second-placed team in the league table, which would have been good enough to make a team champions in the EPL. But luck didn’t favour us in the final. Our aim is to replicate the performance and make the play-offs, after which it could be anybody’s game,” said Burman.
The Kings XI management chose to retain the nucleus of the team that served them so well last year — revolving largely around the Australian trio of Mitchell Johnson, Glenn Maxwell and George Bailey, plus South African David Miller and Indian veteran Virender Sehwag, along with a number of promising Indian youngsters.
“The only expensive player we took on board was Murali Vijay as our priority was on continuity,” Burman added.
Asked how long would it take before IPL franchises, along the lines of EPL outfits, form their own academies to build stars for the future, Burman said: “We are already doing it on a minor scale in the catchment areas with coaching camps and tournaments like the KXIP Cup, which gave talented and upcoming players the opportunity to showcase and hone their skills. The Kings XI should have its own academy in another two to three years’ time.”
The co-owner pointed out that Kings XI were also conscious of their corporate social responsibility over the last few years — tying up with NGOs like the Smile Foundation.
Kings XI Punjab, meanwhile, will be using Pune as their second venue in place of Dharamshala, along with their home venue of Mohali in Chandigarh. “The Dharamshala venue posed logistical problems because of the accessibility. Hence, we agreed to accept Pune as it had a new 40,000-seater stadium, which was unused after their franchise’s exit.”
