Royal Challengers Bangalore owner Vijay Mallya and his latest recruit Dinesh Karthik make for an interesting case study where IPL player auctions are concerned. Mallya's team needs to justify his spendings at the auctions - at least by coming close to winning a trophy some time, and Karthik needs to justify the crores he earns simply by putting some runs on board.
For Rs 12.5 crore last year, Karthik scored 325 runs for the Daredevils in 14 matches with an individual best of 69. Still, Mallya picked him on Monday for Rs 10.5 crore.
For eight years now, franchises have had us believe that there happens to be a method to the madness in which stakes are raised to buy cricketers. With corporate warhorses working on branding strategies, marketing geniuses doing their numbers for sponsorship revenues, coaches preparing a list of got-to-buy cricketers, franchises have, at most times, come up with positive explanations on extravagant spending at auctions, and why players commanded it.
How much is an individual in any field involving professionals allowed to earn? "As much as any employer is willing to pay," a franchise owner said two days after the auction where he himself didn't do much buying.
Daredevils didn't flinch in spending a whopping Rs 16 crore on Yuvraj, the costliest player to be sold on Monday. But Delhi's investment in Yuvraj appears to be based on the logic of not having a single cricketer from north India in their ranks to market the franchise for sponsorships and other revenue-making deals.
With Sehwag, Gambhir and Kohli not around, Daredevils were desperate for a star of similar stature or bigger who could lend them appropriate visibility. When Mallya who had paid Rs 14 crore for Yuvraj in 2014 and admitted that the amount was too much dropped Yuvraj during the transfer window in December, the Daredevils made up their mind to pursue him.
Apart from the fact that Yuvraj can bring in the crowds Daredevils found it missing at the Kotla last year he is a World Cup-winning star and an allrounder of stature.
His brand value, the franchise hopes, will help it monetise the investment. "Individually, how they market him will depend on what strategy they have in mind. But from the team's point of view, Daredevils will benefit where season sponsorships are concerned," says another franchise owner.
But this logic certainly does not apply to Karthik as the Daredevils learnt it the hard way last season.
Now, Mallya has bet big on Karthik. And yet again, his move does not satisfy the demands of cold reason. Action in IPL 8 will provide answers.
Hi! I am UmEr Wa(Arshad), A part time blogger and love blogging. I am blogging since start of 2014. My main aim of blogging is to provide knowledge and my self experience to everyone. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.- Way2hackie
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