The induction of England batsman Kevin Pietersen and New Zealand’s Jesse Ryder, besides Bangalore lad Robin Uthappa, has helped Indian Premier League franchise Bangalore Royal Challengers shed its tag of ‘Test outfit’ in Twenty20 cricket, says team owner Vijay Mallya.”Last year our team was called a Test team, but with players such as (Kevin) Pietersen, (Robin) Uthappa and (Jesse) Ryder in the squad now, no one calls it a Test team anymore,” Mallya said in Mumbai on Thursday.Mallya’s team was criticised by experts last year for lacking the firepower required for Twenty20 cricket, as it ended up seventh in the eight-team contest.

Pietersen will lead the team till he returns for England duty, after which star South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis will take over the mantle.

The liquor baron said his team has five home-grown players and their familiarity with conditions in South Africa, where the second edition of IPL is to be held from April 18, will stand his team in good stead.

“We have five South African players in our team, apart from former South Africa coach Ray Jennings. They are well aware of the conditions in that country and this advantage should work in our favour,” he said.The quintet of South African players — Dale Steyn, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Roelof Van der Merwe and Dillion du Preez are among the RCB’s ten foreign recruits.While admitting that shifting of the IPL to South Africa would cause some financial losses to the franchise, Mallya said he is confident that Board of Control for Cricket in India would make up for it.

“The event is sure to cost us but I am sure that the BCCI will do something about it. Holding the tournament in such a short time was a challenge in itself, the hisaab-kitaab [accounting] can be done once the tournament is over,” he said.

Mallya expressed hope that viewership of the tournament would not be affected because of the shift in venue.

“About 95 per cent viewership of the IPL is TV audience. It is unlikely to suffer as the BCCI has adjusted the timings of the matches as per the convenience of Indian audience.

“IPL going overseas is a lot better than missing it altogether,” he said.

On Force India’s performance in the Australian Grand Prix, Mallya, who is also co-owner of the Formula One team, said he was happy with performance of the drivers.”I’m happy with the ninth and 11th place finishes that Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella achieved. Both of them completed their races in the first event of the season which was a big satisfaction in itself.”
Source – cricket.rediff.com