Batting for badminton

April 17, 2011 02:47 IST

The IPL bug has bitten badminton. If IPL could make cricket sizzle, then why not use the winning formula to create some buzz around the racquet and the shuttle! In a bid to bring a difference to the sport and the shuttlers? career, an interesting attempt to clone IPL is taking place in Pune in the form of the Maharashtra Badminton League, christened MBL. This is expected to bring about a major change in the game that has been conducting itself for the last 25 years from district to state to national levels.

Aniruddha Deshpande, a Pune-based developer, is taking a shot at badminton promotion by organsing the MBL. The Amanora Maharashtra Badminton League will make its debut on May 7 with events scheduled to be held in Pune and Thane on weekends (Saturdays / Sundays) between May 7 and 22. Deshpande, president of the Haveli Taluka Badminton Association, will also be the sponsor and the chairperson of the organising committee of the MBL. He also sponsors Amanora Deccan XI Football Club in Pune and owns Torna Tigers in the Maharashtra Premier League, a state level cricket league on the lines of IPL.

An IPL inspired auction of badminton teams and players was conducted recently. MBL has six teams with seven players each?five men and two women. The franchisees will pay R 2.5 lakh per year to each team in the league. The term period for each franchisee is three years and franchisee fees increase by 10% every year. ?Franchisees are not in it for the money like in cricket. They love the sport and play badminton themselves. Teams have been allotted only to companies and not individuals,? adds Deshpande .

Teams have been christened as Sensational Skylarks, Flamboyant Flamingos, Gorgeous Gannets, Fabulous Falcons, Daring Doves and Inspiring Eagles. Skylarks have been picked up by Builders Combine & Radiant Sports Management run by Samad Shaikh from Pune.

Sohamm Group from Ahmednagar has team Flamingos. Gorgeous Gannets is owned by Sangram Sinha Patil of Indraprastha Group of Textiles, Islampur, Sangli and Samir Patil Group of Companies, Pune. Jain Irrigation, Jalgoan has the Falcons team and Pratham Motors has Doves. Inspiring Eagles is owned by Dhaval Shah?s Jairaj Group. The league will be organised by the Haveli Taluka Badminton Association with support from the Pune & Thane District Badminton Association under the aegis of Maharashtra Badminton Association.

A total of 79 players (53 men and 27 women) were available for auction. The base price for A Category was R 30,000, for B Category it was Rs 25,000 and C Category was at Rs 15,000. The base price for both men and women was same. The maximum kitty for each team to spend in the auction is R 2.5 lakh. Out of the 79 players the teams picked up 44 members. Seventeen players from Pune, 14 from Mumbai, nine from Thane, three from Nagpur and one from Nashik.

In Category A, among men, Jishnu Sanyal from Thane was bought for R 81,000 by Fabulous Falcons and, among women, Aditi Mutatkar from Pune and Arundhati Pantawane were picked up by Sensational Skylarks for R 55,000 each. In Category B, Eshan Naqvi from Thane was bought for R 66,000 by Daring Doves in the men?s section, Gauri Ghate from Mumbai was bought by Gannets for Rs 36,000. The top buy in Category C was Varun Khanwalkar from Pune, bought by Daring Doves for R 38,000.

The team will play men?s singles and doubles, women?s singles and doubles and mixed doubles. To make the game interesting, the players will get to play with each member of the teams. Based on points, they will make it to the finals for the championship title. To add glamour quotient to the league, each team will have a popular Marathi film actress as brand ambassadors?Rujuta Deshmukh, Saee Tamhankar, Kranti Redkar, Sonali Khare, Bhargavi Chirmule and Kadambari Kadam.

Deshpande believes the league format is the way ahead to nurture district and state level players. ?District and state level bodies in-charge of the sport are not equipped to handle individual player. The franchisees can bring in more professionalism, provide financial help, coaches, physical trainers and good equipment,? he adds. Sponsorship is also trickling in. The Hero Group will reward the top man and woman of the league with two-wheelers.

Pune has nearly 10,000 players active in the sport and more women badminton players active than any other city. The league has already created a buzz among the young players here. The Badminton Association of India will be watching the MBL closely and if it turns out to be a successful venture, the association plans to implement the format in other states, so that they can also have a shot at their own league.

MBL: WHO?S WHO

Sensational Skylarks

Owner: Builders Combine & Radiant Sports Management (Samad Shaikh)

Brand Ambassador: Rujuta Deshmukh

Leading Players: Aditi Mutatkar, Sameer Bhagwat and Padnya Gadre

Flamboyant Flamingos

Owner: Sohamm Group (Narendra Firodia)

Brand Ambassador: Saee Tamhankar

Leading Players: Nigel Dsa, Tom Thomas and Neha Pandit

Gorgeous Gannets

Owner: Indraprastha Group of Textiles (Sangram Sinha Patil) & Samir Patil Group of Companies

Brand Ambassador: Kranti Redkar