Hrithik Roshan gives a ‘Royal’ snub to Mumbai Indians

After stupendous success owing to his royal ‘Akbar’ act, it’s nothing but the best that works for gangly hunk Hrithik Roshan. Living by the famous saying—‘In Bollywood you are as big as your last hit or the brand you endorse’, the stunner has switched his cricket loyalties from IPL team Mumbai Indians to last year’s winners Rajasthan Royals.

The actor, who wooed us all with his heart throbbing dancing number for the Mumbai team last year, will be seen cheering the Royals this season.

Whether or not Hrithik’s decision is inspired by Mumbai Indians’ lackluster performance at the pitch remains a mystery. Nevertheless, the actor has reportedly agreed to encourage Shilpa’s Royals.

Confirming the news a news daily quoted a source as saying, "Hrithik was on a one-year contract with the Mumbai cricket team. When approached for a renewal, the actor refused, citing date issues as he was busy with his film ‘Kites’."

Surprisingly, the dishy hunk was all-available for Shetty’s team. What’s more is that Shilpa will be shaking a leg with Hrithik in the video.

Well, Hrithik surely knows how to be a part of the winning crowd.

Royal plans in shadow of uncertainty

Jaipur: The world is mesmerized by Slumdog Millionaire, a story about winning when the world least expects you to. A year ago a team called Rajasthan Royals did the same.

Their journey so far in the Indian Premier League is what movies are made of with the Rajasthan Royals treading on a path that have transcended them from the underdogs to the champions and now Kaleidescope Entertainment will be making a movie titled 'Googly' on them.

On a lazy Saturday afternoon, Rajasthan Royals announced their big plans for the second season; all in the midst of concerns surrounding the second season of the mega event.

But the owners of the Jaipur franchise, though a bit worried, announced a slew of initiatives in a glittering function at the Taj, which includes a new sporting gear designed by Puma, a team anthem called Halla bol (composed by Anand Raj Anand and sung by Sunidhi Chauhan), fan gear merchandise in the form of a blue bugle, a DVD transcending the fairytale success of the Royals and launch of Googly.

Rajasthan Royals also announced their new squad for the 2009 season of the IPL which included new foreign Twenty specialists like Tyron Henderson (South Africa), Shane Harwood, Lee Carseldine and rookie Rob Quiney (all from Australia).

However, all the big announcements came after it was announced that the opening ceremony and the first game of the second season between the Royals and the Delhi Daredevils will not be staged in Jaipur but in Mumbai, something which the Royals are not too pleased about.

"It is sad as we will not have the home support and I wanted my first game to be played in Jaipur," said co-owner Shilpa Shetty.

Manoj Badale, co-owner and someone who has witnessed the growth of the Royals right from its inception said: "If it's left to us. We will play all our home games in Jaipur."

Badale's agitation with Jaipur looking unlikely to host many games in the second season of the IPL was evident but he stated that it was the security of the players and fans that was paramount and he is not worried about things which he cannot control.

However, on a bright note, Badale read a special message from the Jaipur skipper Shane Warne, who said that he will come to India and play in the second season of the IPL.

No question of foreign recruits skipping IPL: Badale

Rajasthan Royals owner Manoj Badale on Saturday dispelled doubts on the participation of Australian and English cricketers of his side due to any security concern that crept up following the terrorist attack on Sri Lankan players in Pakistan.

"Shane Watson has said publicly that he was eager to play in the IPL and Shane Warne too has spoken to me and has shown willingness to guide his team to another victory," Badale told reporters at a team promotional event here.

At a function to launch a new title song for his team and also unveil a new shirt, Badale said a victory parade will be held next month to celebrate the first edition triumph.

"We tried twice but just after the final last year few players left due to their prior engagements. When we tried again the terrorists attack in Mumbai thwarted our plans. As for now we plan to hold a victory parade on April 7 in which all players are expected to take part," said Badale in the presence of other stakeholders Raj Kundra and Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty.

Badale said the team management was also planning to recruit more players from the home state.

"We had sponsored a few local tournaments and opened a window for local players. We plan to put four local players on the contract list and to select a few local players and give them the opportunity to share the dressing room with the squad.

"This will be a learning experience for these players. But I cannot change the standard of cricket in the state so quickly," he said.

He said the next priority for Rajasthan Royals was to spread the interest of the Twenty20 tournament to Gujrat, its catchment area.

"Our other catchment area is Gujrat and we have seven players from that region in our ranks. Initially we were planning to hold matches like one against Mohali and with Pathan brothers (Irfan and Yousuf), the match would have generated much interest in that area. If we are not able to hold the matches in Jaipur, Gujrat would be our next preference," said Badale.

Asked whether the shifting of the inaugural IPL match would mean that Mumbai was safer than Jaipur, Badale said it did not mean so.

"The world that we live in has people who are hell bent on destructing peace. Paramount for Rajasthan Royals is players' security and we will do whatever is asked from us in that regard. It can happen anywhere in world, in Lahore, in Mumbai or any where. This is not a judgment on standards of security but it is a question of resources and of assurances."

Rajasthan Royals Signs Three Overseas Players

Rob Quiney, Shane Harwood & Lee Carseldine join the Champions for IPL Season 214th Feb 2009 - Mumbai : Rajasthan Royals, Champions of IPL 2008 today announced the addition of three new overseas players in their squad for the coming IPL season 2. While Rob Quiney has joined the squad as the overseas player, the Royals have announced Shane Harwood & Lee Carseldine as the replacement players for Sohail Tanveer and Kamran Akmal who will not be coming to IPL this year. The announcement was made by Darren Berry, Director –Coaching, Rajasthan Royals. Also present during this occasion was Team Physio, John Gloster.

Speaking on their selection Darren Berry, Director Coaching, Rajasthan Royals said, “It feels good to have specialists like Quiney, Harwood and Carseldine in our squad this year. Surely we will miss Sohail & Akmal, but having these players in the team is a boon to the squad. Their presence will definitely add more spice and excitement to the matches in which they will be playing. Also, joining the squad is an exciting top-order batsman, Rob Quiney who is considered as the player to look-out for this season”

Rob Quiney, Australian, is an Explosive Left Hand top order bastman from Victoria and has recently been included in the 12-man Australian T20 squad for today’s match against New Zealand. He has been rewarded this place for some very consistent performance in the Twenty20 cricket this year, with probably the highlight being his excellent innings of 91 in 57 balls for Victoria against New South Wales in the KFC Big Bash final.

Shane Harwood, Australian, is a Right-Arm Fast bowler from Victoria. He is rated one of the best T20 bowlers in the world. Nicknamed “Stickers”, he started his career in cricket in 2001/2002. He is known as a dangerous one-day bowler with sharp pace & awkward bounce. His bowling style dried-up any opposition runs. He claimed a career-best 6 for 51 against New South Wales at the MCG. He stormed on to the state scene as a 28-year-old in 2002-03 when he became only the third Australian to collect a hat-trick on first-class debut. Recently his match-winning bowling performance of 4-33 against South Australia took Victoria into the Pura Cup finals.

Lee Carseldine, Australian, is an All-Rounder, and a Left-Arm Medium pace bowler from Queensland. This season he was the Player of the T20 Series in Australia. He started his career in 1998/1999. But his career breakthrough as a senior player came with a fleeting first-class appearance against Tasmania in 1998-99 and then with berths in the state's semi-final and final teams of the 1999-2000 Mercantile Mutual Cup campaign. Back then he was primarily a batsman, reaching a highest score of 124 not out, but he picked up eight wickets to average in the 30s with bat and ball. Recently, Lee Carseldine continued his brilliant career renaissance with his second one-day century of the season as Queensland went one step closer to a place in the final with their 61-run win over Western Australia.

Rajasthan Royals and the art of creating wealth

With the Indian Premier League in full flow and providing such a visual delight, it was interesting to read an article by Graeme Smith titled ' My Hindi lessons are going well'. He writes that it has been wonderful moving around with young Indian players. He has been gaining a different perspective and exploring a different side of India. He never expected a South African-Australian encounter to be so tame -- he found Shane Warne warm, interesting and certainly instructive for a captain.
Never before have players of so diverse skills, talent, age groups and nationalities played on the same platform. Rajasthan Royals, who are presently leading the league table, have meshed exceedingly well as a team and put in an outstanding performance. Warne has marshalled his resources optimally and each player has chipped in his well-assigned, specific role. It disproved the earlier forecasts of experts that Royals lacked superstars and would not fare well.
Managing your financial portfolio is similar. Markowitz won the 1992 Economics Nobel Prize for his portfolio management theory. He states that it is possible to maximise returns while minimising risks by diversifying your portfolio. Effective diversification is achieved by putting your money in various asset classes and not relying on one superstar. Moreover, these asset classes should have a low correlation or in other words they should not all rise together or fall together. On the other hand, some could thrive in certain conditions and some in others. They could have specific roles in the portfolio and together as a team will maximise risk adjusted returns. It disproves the misconception of many investors that high returns can only be achieved by taking high risks.
Multiple research studies over a long period of time establish that appropriate asset allocation determines more than 90 per cent of a portfolio return while individual security selection only a miniscule part. Unfortunately time spent is totally the opposite. In my conversation with numerous investors, I am surprised by their fixation on getting hot tips on how a stock will fare rather than on economic factors driving various asset classes. Effective diversification or appropriate asset allocation is similar to cricket team selection and the single most important tool for maximising wealth.
Are there any shortcuts to create wealth?
T20 cricket has clearly and forcefully delineated the importance of team selection. Vijay Mallya , owner of Bangalore Royal Challengers has no hesitation in agreeing totally. According to him, he had erroneously taken a back seat, mixing a heady cocktail of F1 and T20 for producing real good times, while his main drivers Rahul and Charu were selecting the team. According to some allegations, they left no stone unturned and no avenue unexplored in selecting a full fledged test team smartly turned out in their flashy T20 clothing.
You can have multiple permutations and combinations for a portfolio. For example, if you have Rs 100, you can put everything in cash but it will not produce any return. Alternatively you can put the full amount in one stock, but that will be highly risky. Similarly everything in real estate will be risky and illiquid (would not be easy to sell and convert into cash). Appropriate asset allocation is achieved by optimising an equation where personal life cycle and business cycle stages are the constraints. It is akin to targeting maximum possible runs taking into account the pitch condition (business cycle stage) and the team strengths (personal stage).
The current Indian business cycle is akin to a batsman-friendly pitch where a good score (good returns) is very much possible. Presently the economic growth rate is high and not likely to be affected too much by global woes. Corporate earnings (profits) growth rate is lower as compared to preceding years but is still impressive. Indian equities will continue to perform well.
However some cracks are just beginning to appear. Inflation is higher with consequent impact on interest rates. Oil and commodity prices have risen at a fast pace. While the pitch is still good, a hostile bowler is presently engaged in a good spell. Relying only on one kind of player could lead to loss of wickets. A mix of players with diverse skill sets is required at this stage.
With the medium and long term Indian story totally intact, India, irrespective of whether iconic or non-iconic, will remain the mainstay of the team. However, there is rationale for taking players across geography and across alternative asset classes. Insert a solid Matthew Hayden and a dash of global real estate, put exotic Geoff Marsh and a bit of Latin America, add lustrous Shane Warne and a trace of gold, attach versatile Shane Watson and a little of multi tasking structured fund and you will be making your team lot more productive, resilient, colourful and successful like the current bunch of Rajasthan Royals.
Summary: Appropriate asset allocation, like the right team selection in cricket, is the single most important factor determining whether somebody wins the wealth game.

It's Bollywood calling for Rajasthan Royals

MUMBAI: Rajasthan Royals is extending its Bollywood connection beyond brand ambassador and investor Shilpa Shetty. The story of the reigning
champions of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will soon provide the background for a Bollywood film to be produced by Kaleidoscope Entertainment
. The company, founded by Bobby Bedi, made films such as Mangal Pandey, Saathiya and Maqbool in the past. The yet-untitled film will be funded by Kaleidoscope and feature players from the Royals team. “We will not invest in the film, but have given it the go-ahead. We are supporting the film in other ways and some of our players will be part of the film. The Royals team is the background for the main story of the film,” Manoj Badale, chairman and joint owner of Rajasthan Royals told ET. The script has been finalised. The film is in the pre-production stage and should go on floors during the second IPL season in April. It was scheduled to go on floors in December, in which case the shooting would have been completed by now. But the Mumbai terror attacks led to the delay. Rajasthan Royals’ journey from being underdogs to IPL champions presented Bedi a perfect script for his film. “The underdog-to-champs story of Rajasthan Royals makes a great tale. The film is medium-budget, with youngsters playing the main roles. Gautam Talwar will direct the film and we’re hoping to release it this year itself,” says Mr Bedi. He is looking to rope in the Royals players, especially Shane Watson and Shane Warne, to act in the film. The Jaipur franchise also plans to release a DVD on its victorious sojourn in the first IPL season, in two weeks. The DVD will feature live match moments and exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of the team.