Dubai: It’s been on very few occasions over the last 10 years of IPL that Preity Zinta was not physically present during a Kings XI Punjab game — be it in Durban, Dubai or New Delhi. Often flying the vibrant red team flag, she had been the face of the Mohali-based team, and much more.
“It had been an uphill task for me,’’ the Bollywood actor and co-owner of the franchise told Gulf News in an exclusive phone interview, looking back at what had been a tumultuous journey for her as well the glitzy league which has changed the landscape of modern cricket.
While she admits that it had been a huge learning curve for her, the plain-speaking Preity was quick to point out that her job was much tougher than just providing the glamour quotient to the IPL along with Shah Rukh Khan.
“I don’t want to call myself a barrier-breaker,’’ she says in reply to an obvious question, adding: “See, women have been seen in cricket matches from much before, but they have mostly come as spouses. I was, on the other hand, competing with the men as our franchise comprises men with big family-owned businesses where I had to make a mark.’’
It seemed like the other day when in early 2008, Indian cricket turned a new leaf when a tentative Preity — then very much a ‘A’ lister in Bollywood — walked in with her partners in the BCCI house along with SRK, a clutch of industrial tycoons and media barons for the auction of the franchises. From then onwards, she had been a part of the players’ auction down the years — having a major say in the bids, though she is heading the cricketing operations for the first time this year.
“This year, we had worked really hard at the auction to build a good team. It’s been my first year in charge of the cricket operations and you can say I was doubly motivated,’’ she said, sounding upbeat as the star-studded Kings XI Punjab has made a resounding start and looks very much in contention to make the play-offs.
Best performance
“My expectation from the team is that they should be consistent as we have often started strongly in the past but could not sustain it,’’ says Preity, sounding very much the pragmatic owner who knows her stuff.
The best performance for the Kings XI Punjab so far had been a runners-up spot in 2014, when they raked up a total of 199 (thanks to a breezy century by Wriddhiman Saha) but still ended up on the losing side to Kolkata Knight Riders. “It’s all a part of the game, such things can happen,’’ she replied.
It took a lot of sacrifice for Preity in the initial years, who had to take time out from her thriving career to be part of what she calls is serious business.
“It was a conscious choice on my part but initially, I had to do a lot more running around and damage control as everyone wanted Preity Zinta to be around. Now with the product a lot more settled, I am in a happy space and can focus on my career and do the projects that I want to,” she said.
Ask her about how the IPL has grown as a product, and she cannot stop gushing about it. “I feel on top of the world when we rewind on the road travelled. When the idea of IPL was mooted, the initial response was well, isn’t cricket’s market saturated? We felt no as it still couldn’t get enough women drawn into the game — so we fought to do the brand-building in that direction,” she reflected.
Stable business
“It’s a profitable and stable business now but we had to work really hard to bring it to where it is today. I must thank two persons for making it so huge: Lalit Modi, the first chairman of IPL and of course, Shah Rukh Khan. For the first two years of the league, we had to slog to market the product first in India and then South Africa — we had taken out 20 days out of our schedule and worked to a plan like you would do for a film promotion,” Preity says.
Looking ahead the future of IPL, it seems there is often a case if the franchises can extend their reach beyond the two months of the league in a year if it wants to match up to the top notch franchise-based sports leagues like the English Premier League or the NBA.
“Yes, it would be fantastic if we can have something beyond the two months and we are exploring the possibilities. However, all the teams are pre-booked as international calendar is choc-a-bloc till 2019-20 and the players will not be available, so I don’t want to commit on it,” she added.
