Mithun's ICL team strikes lucrative deal
Posted on Jul 24, 2008 at 07:28 | Updated Jul 25, 2008 at 11:47
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New Delhi: After multi-million dollar sports deals in the ultra-glamorised Indian Premier League, it's the turn of the Indian Cricket League to make heads turn.
Superstar Mithun Chakraborty, owner of the Royal Bengal Tigers (earlier known as the Kolkata Tigers) on Wednesday tied up with the Howrah Union Sports Club, one of the state's prominent sports clubs to form Royal Bengal Sports Pvt Ltd, along with the launch of the ICL team's website, www.theroyalbengaltigers.com.
The actor, who is a legend in Bengali cinema as well as a Bollywood icon, said the alliance was not pertaining to any particular sport, but spreading across disciplines to provide the region's talent with suitable support.
"This announcement cements my association with ICL which was formulated in March 2008 with the foremost objective of endorsing and promoting sports in my native West Bengal. The alliance between my team and Howrah Union Club is a one of a kind initiative, which aims to take Bengal’s local sports talent, across sporting disciplines, on the path of creating national sports icons from Bengal," Mithun said on Wednesday.
ICL's business head Himanshu Mody was delighted at the new tie-up. The venture gives the ICL — termed a 'rebel' league by the BCCI — to establish its roots in other sports in the country in a bid to get rid of the tag given to them by the most powerful cricket board in the world.
Mody said Howrah Union, a prominent football club at the famous maidans of Kolkata formed 86 years ago, will be backed by the "ICL's in-depth understanding of the modern sports environment (which) will propel sports in West Bengal a long way forward."
"ICL acknowledges Mithunda's instrumental role as an architect of this alliance. We are sure that his iconic status in West Bengal will help promote both the organisations and its sportsmen to an unprecedented level in the Indian sports scenario."
The Royal Bengal Tigers are one of the right teams featuring in the Indian Cricket League, which will start its third season in the month of October, as revealed by chairman of the ICL board Kapil Dev recently. The team has stalwarts including former South African all-rounder Lance Klusener, and the coach being Proteas great Daryl Cullinan.
The BCCI's move to not allow state associations to let the ICL use any of their grounds has led to an extended battle between the two entities. However, the Kolkata sports minister has in the past promised the ICL to let them use the iconic Eden Gardens.
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Total Comments: 4
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Posted By nd akbar
i want too tell u about ur icl team. specially for the medium fast bowler in howrah union.
if u interested
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Posted By md akbar
i want too tell u about hourah union club.
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Posted By Abubakar
OMG ! now bcci is going to restrict the moment of howra union .
Way to go Mithun da !
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Posted By Bhavesh
It\''s great support from Mithun to ICL, other celebs might not encourage sport but business irrespective of poor performance of
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