00:00Hello, good evening. This is Gautam Bhattacharyya of Gulf News. With me, I've got a very special
00:06guest today for a discussion on IPL, which as all of you know, that, you know, the cricket's
00:12biggest festival in India that will be suspended yesterday because of, you know, unforeseen
00:17circumstances. With me, I've got Mr. Nesvadia, who of course doesn't need any introduction.
00:24But yes, I mean, as for now, he is there as the co-owner of Kings 11, Punjab Kings and
00:32is one of the leading industrial scales of the country. The IPL had been a passion for
00:37him from day one. He and the team of owners, they have weathered many a storm to bring
00:44the rebranded Punjab Kings to where it is. So, thank you. Thank you so much Nes for joining
00:51and agreeing to do this.
00:55Thank you for your time. And thank you to Gulf News. And I hope everyone in the UAE
01:00and everywhere else in the world is safe. And I hope and pray that COVID exits our lives
01:06sooner than later.
01:08Absolutely. Okay, Nes, we'll get down to the IPL, obviously. I mean, yesterday, the decision
01:16came. Now, you know, what was the tip-off point? I mean, obviously, gradually what happened
01:24was players started testing positive despite the best effort of the franchises. So if you
01:30can just take us through as to how you arrived at this, what must be a tough decision for
01:35you?
01:36I think it first started off with Kolkata and Chennai, if I believe a couple of days
01:42ago, and a couple of players and support staff getting COVID. And then the next morning,
01:50it spread to Delhi and Sunrisers. And I mean, with two teams not playing for a week because
01:57of quarantine, I think it could have continued. But with four teams, it would be a non-starter.
02:04So I think it was the right decision to stop the IPL. I think also the cases in India are
02:10quite high, and it's become more risky than it was three weeks ago when it started.
02:16So that's the reason for the suspension. I think it's the right decision at the right
02:20time.
02:21Well, I mean, as long as the tournament was continuing, I mean, today, there was some
02:28talk, you know, about what the bubble tight enough from what it was when the tournament
02:35was being held in the UAE. We have spoken about that during the tournament, during and
02:41before the tournament in the UAE. But obviously, there were no stones left unturned in securing
02:47the safety of the players and all the stakeholders in India as well, isn't it?
02:51No, that's 100% correct. I think no stone was left unturned. Unfortunately, this COVID,
02:59you know, seems to have a way of even going through every stone which is which has not
03:06been left unturned. I mean, it's now I hear that it's coming through toilet ducts and
03:12various other means. And, you know, so it's a tough situation. It's an unpredictable virus,
03:21and it finds its way through anything and everything, unfortunately. And I think that's
03:25a lesson. I think also the lesson is that, you know, maybe more testing, maybe more security
03:31in terms of the bubble, and maybe having more people who were not involved in the bubble
03:38earlier, I'm not sure who was not involved. You know, but I think that's the way the BCC
03:44and IPL should look at it for the future.
03:47Well, you know, as the dust is kind of settling down, I think the big headache, which
03:54you know, each of the franchises have been to, you know, ensure a smooth passage back home,
04:00not only for your Indian players, but for your overseas players, and you've got quite a few,
04:05you've got, you know, people have to go back to the West Indies, people are going to go back
04:11to Australia, I mean, where it's a no-flight zone now, David Malan has to go back to the UK.
04:17So today, I'm sure you must have spent quite a bit of time in kind of lining up or delegating
04:22this to the people who handled it. Where are you now in terms of sending them home?
04:28Luckily, we've got an administration team and sending them off. So, you know,
04:34fortunately, we've got a team which does that. I think a few have managed to find their way and
04:40a few are still going. So it's a tough situation. I mean, the Australians in particular
04:45are the most hit. And I don't think they're allowed back for another week or 10 days.
04:52But again, you know, these are international players. And it's unfortunate, but I'm sure
04:59sooner than later, they'll find their way home and my heart goes out to them and their families.
05:03And I just, you know, would request them to be a bit more patient and things will fall
05:11into place sooner than later. Okay, I mean, there is also some talk, I mean, it's still
05:17very, very early stages. First, you know, that the COVID-19 second surge has to be brought
05:22under control in India. But there is some talk that, you know, should there be a window available
05:29around September, because October, November is the World T20, wherever it takes place.
05:33If it takes place in India, the situation improves. The name of UAE has been thrown up once
05:38again. They were officially the backup venue as the ICC said. So how realistic do you think
05:47are the chances of you know, getting over because not even half of the tournament is finished.
05:53So how realistic do you think are the chances of hosting the rest of it as an event?
05:59I think, you know, almost half is complete, fortunately. I think we need another 20 odd days to
06:06complete this. I think there's a very realistic chance that it will happen before the World Cup.
06:11That seems to be the only window available. You never know what might happen. But that seems to
06:18be the case. I think secondly, the UAE is a good backup. Obviously, we'd prefer to hold it in India
06:25and preferably, you know, by then we'd be able to get fans in and COVID would be a lot less
06:33aggressive and the cases would be much less than they are
06:36today. So I think we'll have to see what happens over the next couple of months.
06:43May, you know, we've got another ones to go. So I'm hopeful, fingers crossed
06:51and prayers to the Almighty that, you know, things improve. COVID
06:56does decrease not only in India and across the world and hopefully things will slowly come back to
07:03some sort of normalcy sooner than later.
07:08One thing I'd like to ask here, you know, pardon my ignorance, but Punjab Kings or the
07:14Kings XI Punjab, they have always thrown themselves into any form of CSR activity when it's called
07:21for various causes. Now, this year, with the things being so bad on the COVID front,
07:28has Punjab Kings announced anything or they're in the process of doing something
07:32now that you know, the tournament is suspended, you can put your minds to it and maybe do something?
07:38Yeah, I mean, you know, last year, we donated to the prime minister's fund, I think,
07:4360 lakhs or 70 or something like this. And this year, we've already even during the tournament
07:49and before the tournament, we were looking at helping the COVID situation. And we've
07:56allocated funds, I think, 1.2 crores or something like this, for the oxygen requirement,
08:05and for various other COVID equipment requirements, apart from sponsoring other
08:11people. So we've already actioned that, I think, about 10 days ago, and the board took a decision
08:17to do that. So I'm happy to say that that's already happened. We're not in the business of
08:22publicizing what we do for our fellow human beings. But that's what we've done.
08:28Right. Okay, then just to take our minds off and just get back into the team.
08:35If you can give us an update about KL Rahul, I mean, unfortunate that he had to suffer
08:40appendicitis, you know, this flare up. So how did his surgery go? And how is he doing now? When can
08:45we get him to see back in action? His surgery went well, touch wood, thank God. He's fit,
08:53he's coming back to normal. And I think definitely when the IPL resumes, he'd be
08:58there to play with us again. And I wish him a speedy recovery.
09:04And just one line from you, I've been, you know, trying to speak to you for a while, but,
09:10you know, the rebranding of Punjab Kings, the new team, how has it gone? I mean, so far, the
09:16tournament hadn't gone the way we would have liked, but there had been a few good wins as well.
09:21Then, of course, this fitness issues came. So a bit about your thoughts behind the
09:27rebranding, and what are your expectations if the tournament resumes later this year?
09:33I think the rebranding is a good move. You know, we've had the same colors and
09:39brand for about 14 years, and it was felt that we should do something. There were thoughts,
09:45sorry, on the name, there were thoughts on the colors as well. But we went with these colors.
09:51We might look at considering changing the colors next year, this year, where there was a paucity of
09:55time. So that's the status. And, yeah, looking forward to, you know, everyone playing the IPL
10:02again, Fit KL, Rahul, and for the team to do a lot better. I mean, we've got huge potential with
10:09some of the players we have. I just think that we have to back ourselves a little bit more and
10:15to have a situation where you win one game, lose another and win another and lose another is not
10:19very consistent. I think that has to be improved. And I'm sure Anil Kumble, the coach and his staff
10:25and the captain and the players would rise to the occasion. So hopefully, it'll be a better tournament
10:32in terms of the second half for Punjab Kings.
10:36Thank you so much. I think a few months down the line when we talk again,
10:44we should be in a much better frame of mind. And possibly we can look at hosting the remaining
10:51part of IPL in whichever part of the world. Thank you once again for your time.
10:56Thank you for your time. And I just wish all the viewers, you know, whoever suffering a safe
11:01recovery and whoever's not be safe and prayers to everyone in the world. Thank you. God bless.
11:14you
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