when i came here back to india to set up my business in the financial services space, i always heard that there were only two religions in india, cricket and bollywood. i don t have the right thought, but our deal is humongous for cricket, it is one of the best leagues in the world, the ipl has you know become one of the most popular leagues and i think it is one of the top ten leagues in the world. in india, the culture is such that when a son is born, in the family, even to this day, the parents either want him to be a cricketer, a test cricketer or a bollywood star. we talk about the stories i of these players and the fact that you can come from nothing and succeed, and the ipl has i given that opportunity - for so many players to come from nothing and succeed. the ipl for me means the opportunity, you know, you re never going to get the opportunities the ipl presents in any other part of cricket in the world. we are the envy of the world. the ipl is the envy of the world.
you have to convert this into a business otherwise you can t run on one cylinder and expect the engine to keep functioning well and it s a two month project which is ipl. i think following 83, following the success of the 83, with the, it s been a huge success i think for film, so bollywood are more and more inclined, there is no other popular, no gain more popular than cricket in india. or to indians around the world. and anything related to cricket or anything connected with cricket will sell. n is the glitz and glamour of bollywood combined within the ipl and indian cricket is certainly another reason why they go to another level, and why it is so hard for anything in cricket and around the world to compete with that. people used to ask me, don t you want to get so and so player, won t they be a big brand for you, etc. i said, i have the biggest brand behind me, you know? a gentleman called and asked me about injuries, and i said, why do we need players who.
we don t. we have never consciously gone after any bollywood superstar. the first year i was with rajasthan probably coincided with the best cricket i have ever played in a period of time. i managed to score five half centuries in a row, and sort of sat here now, i know that feeling that i had with the bat in hand then, and i don t feel like i have played better in a period in my career, and it sort of lead into probably the best year of cricket i have had, and rajasthan again, coming back to the opportunity, obviously they picked me up in the auction and i got moved to open at the batting in t20 cricket for them, and i never looked back really from that point, especially in my t20 career. i think that rajasthan fans are as crazy as any of the fans in india. i think that the passion for cricket and the loyalty that they showed towards the franchise and to individuals who represent that franchise is amazing and i feel
but actually hearing from someone who did not play the game, and i was talking to him about what can we do better, what did you enjoy? and he said the one thing he enjoyed was everyone was treated equally. whether you are playing or not, everyone is an eagle and he said he has spoken to players in different franchises and they can have the same experience. cricket being hugely, - hugely popular and bollywood being hugely popular, . all the actors, actresses used to come singers, l sit in the dressing room and closure watching matches as our guests. so cricket and bollywood always had the very, - very close connection. and lalit modi, the chairman of ipl, who founded the ipl,| really, thought that was a brilliant idea, to marry bollywood i and cricket together. and form the ipl. the franchises were sold . to people like cheryl khan, julie choula, presenter- and all of that and they now, all of the franchises - are flourishing immensely, thanks to ipl.
when i came here back to india to set up my business in the financial services space, i always heard that there were only two religions in india, cricket and bollywood. i don t have the right thought, but our deal is humongous for cricket, it is one of the best leagues in the world, the ipl has you know become one of the most popular leagues and i think it is one of the top ten leagues in the world. in india, the culture is such that when a son is born, in the family, even to this day, the parents either want him to be a cricketer, a test cricketer or a bollywood star. we talk about the stories i of these players and the fact that you can come from nothing and succeed, and the ipl has i given that opportunity - for so many players to come from nothing and succeed. the ipl for me means the opportunity, you know, you re never going to get the opportunities the ipl