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Too Early To Look Beyond Abu Dhabi T10: Royal Desert Champions Owner Amit Narang On Investment Plans In Indian Franchise Cricket

For Royal Desert Champions: Royal Desert Champions owner Amit Narang has ruled out looking at additional cricket franchise investments in India in the immediate future, saying the focus remains on establishing the UAE-based team and building a sustainable sporting property over the next three to five years. Narang, a former international banker with over 17 years of experience in banking and fintech, said the franchises entry into the Abu Dhabi T10 coincides with a significant transition for the competition, which is entering a new phase under Abu Dhabi Sports and Tourism Management. Narang, whose investment in Royal Desert Champions marks his first venture into sports franchise ownership, believes the T10 format offers a distinct opportunity in an increasingly crowded franchise cricket market. He said the leagues established history, international player pool and shorter tournament window were among the factors that influenced the decision to invest. Its a new version of T10 Abu Dhabi. This is the 10th year of the league, so youre entering into a league which is well-oiled and has been running for a while. Its not new; people know about it. Its always good to come into a league which is already running and has a background, but its a new version of the T10 league because Abu Dhabi Sports and Tourism has taken it over this year, and thats why our entry this year is, in a large way, linked to that milestone. We want to be a part of this league going forward, Narang told IANS in an exclusive interaction, explaining why he chose the Abu Dhabi T10 at this stage of his career. Why T10? I think its the fastest format. Youve seen how the world has changed from ODIs to T20S, and there are more matches that are played today for T20 versus ODI. I think, therefore, at the same time, there is a space for an even faster format, and weve entered into a league which is T10, which is the oldest T10 league. So it makes sense to build our franchise along with Abu Dhabi Sports and Tourism as we go along. There are common objectives to achieve, so thats why this entry now, at this time, and why not other leagues? I think, frankly speaking, there are a lot of T20 leagues now, including a lot of domestic leagues in India and beyond India. I think its good to be in a T10 league which is attracting the right quality of players. A league is as successful as the quality of players who come in and who play. If you look at our team and most of the teams that have been announced in this league, theyre extremely good players. Theyre all international players, and the fact that this is a 14-day league and its a shorter duration, youre able to get commitments from players to come in. The larger the league, sometimes it may be a challenge for player availability as well. So youre able to attract good talent, good players, good coaches, and good team directors, and thats what this whole thing is about, he added. The change in the leagues management has also raised expectations around its commercial development. Narang believes the competition already occupies a strong position within the T10 landscape and could build on that standing in the coming years, although he said the precise direction of its expansion would depend on the plans of its new management. As I said, this is the most premium T10 league, even today, having been in play for nine years. If you look around and see the T10 landscape, you will see that Abu Dhabi T10 is the most premium league already, and now with Abu Dhabi Sports and Tourism taking this over, you can only expect bigger things coming through. Whichever sports assets they have had to date are all big in their own right. So I dont know the exact plans that they have for the league in terms of how they will build this up from here, but Abu Dhabi, being what they are, will build this up into a larger league. The way weve done the draft this year has been the best that theyve done over the last 10 years. So I think its gonna be a take-off time. Well have to wait and watch how we go the next three to five years, but all of us are very excited about the journey going forward, Narang detailed. For Narang, the immediate priority is to establish the first franchise before considering opportunities in other competitions, including Indias established franchise cricket ecosystem. He said the team would need sustained attention and investment before any decision on further expansion could be made. Too early to really even look at. I think we are focused on this league. We want to build over the next three to five years and see how well we do here. Too early to really look beyond this. This is the first time that we are entering into sports management. So we want to kind of build on this, put a lot of effort behind this and see where we go from there. The owner also stressed that long-term franchise value cannot be separated from on-field performance, arguing that a competitive team is essential to building a credible sporting brand. Royal Desert Champions, he said, would pursue commercial growth alongside consistent performances rather than treating the two as separate objectives. I think its a mix of all. Its not either or. To be honest, its eventually sports management. So you want to build a brand. You want to build the IP. You want a competitive team because if you dont have a competitive team and you dont play well, you dont play the basic game well, then anyway, your brand takes a beating. So you need to have a good competitive team, play hard cricket, play good fast cricket, and win more matches than you lose. And thats also the morale of the team, then, right? If you lose a lot, then the morale goes down. And the morale of the whole management team, the whole coaching team, and the players is in winning. So, you need to be competitive. Yes, we put up a competitive team. Win or loss depends on the day as well. But if you win more and lose less, its what you are aiming for. You want to build a brand. You want to build IP. So I think its a mix of all of these that you said. You have very, very, very relevant points. And all of them are important for a sustainable long-term league ownership, he mentioned. I think its a mix of all. Its not either or. To be honest, its eventually sports management. So you want to build a brand. You want to build the IP. You want a competitive team because if you dont have a competitive team and you dont play well, you dont play the basic game well, then anyway, your brand takes a beating. So you need to have a good competitive team, play hard cricket, play good fast cricket, and win more matches than you lose. And thats also the morale of the team, then, right? If you lose a lot, then the morale goes down. Also Read: Special Cricket Stories Article Source: IANS