Representatives from almost all the IPL teams are flying to Vadodara for the final with the sole aim of recruiting players for the sides.
The Ranji Trophy final, starting in Vadodara on Tuesday, has suddenly become a matter of great interest. If nothing else, there will be a little more crowd than the local association would have expected for the final between Baroda and Rajasthan.
A galaxy of VIPs are expected to witness the game over the next five days.
Representatives from almost all the IPL teams are flying to Vadodara for the final with the sole aim of recruiting players for the sides. A couple of owners will be there with the coaches while others are sending their coaches and player representatives.
“Yes I will be flying to watch the final,” an owner confirmed to this paper. Officials of Kolkata, Kochi, Rajasthan, Chennai, Mohali are all expected to be there. An otherwise largely-ignored domestic game has suddenly become a platform for talent hunt.
While some owners are flying on Tuesday, one owner showed up a day before the final was to start. Siddharth Mallya of Royal Challengers Bangalore visited the Moti Baug ground in Vadodara for what is being termed as a ‘talent-scouting mission.’
The Mallya junior spent considerable amount of time with a hotshot uncapped player, one of the successful players of IPL-3. Mallya had gone to Vadodara with former Karnataka wicket-keeper Avinash Vaidya. This uncapped player is being seen as hot property along with a host of other players.
Late in the evening, Vijay Mallya said his son had gone to meet a few Rajasthan players. “Following a discussion between me and Bharat Patel, cricket consultant and advisor to the president of the Baroda Cricket Association (BCA), Siddharth went to meet uncapped players recommended by Patel and also to explore possibilities with two uncapped players from Rajasthan,” said Vijay Mallya.
Snehal Parikh, secretary of BCA, said he had no clue on the intention of Mallya Jr’s visit. ‘’I’m aware he came here but I’m not sure why he came. I cannot speak about the IPL matters,” the BCA official said. Interestingly enough, Vadodara is the home town of Chirayu Amin, the IPL chairman, who had on Sunday stated that the IPL would take action if any franchisee or player was found not following the guidelines. For the record, Mallya was not breaching any guideline by talking to any player.
Each side is allowed to recruit as many uncapped players as they want so long as their player purse does not exceed $9 million, and total strength of the squad is not more than 30. Another important condition is that each team has to recruit at least four uncapped players from their catchment areas.
The players are entitled for remuneration between Rs10 and 30 lakh depending on their experience. Other hotshot uncapped players are Manish Pandey (previously RCB), R Satish (MI), Sidharth Trivedi (RR), Shadab Jakati (CSK), Ali Murtaza (MI) and Swapnil Asnodkar (RR).
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