IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals hunt for the next generation of British talent

Children at the Royals' UK academy could one day be emulating Jos Buttler's IPL heroics
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Will Macpherson26 March 2019

There were several Englishmen on show as the Rajasthan Royals started their Indian Premier League campaign against Kings XI Punjab on Monday.

IPL teams are a collection of the world’s top talent; seven Indians, then plenty of Australians, Kiwis, West Indians, South Africans and the occasional Englishman. But the Royals have a very English look. As in 2018, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler are key players and so is newly minted Englishman Jofra Archer.

Awaiting his chance (which is likely to come when Buttler, Stokes and, most probably, Archer, too, head home for to face Pakistan) on the bench is Liam Livingstone, picked up so cheaply in the auction (£55,000) that he is likely to lose money playing in the competition due to the compensation he has to pay Lancashire for his absence.

The British presence goes beyond the playing ranks. The tycoon who owns the franchise is Manoj Badale, a Brit whose offices in Hammersmith are adorned with his many business interests.

England teammates Stokes and Buttler are leading the Royals' quest for IPL glory
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From one of them, the digital venture builder Blenheim Chalcot, he brought Jake Lush McCrum, a Leeds University graduate from Somerset. He is general manager for cricket operations. In the dugout is bowling coach Steffan Jones, the former Somerset seamer.

So Brits are all the rage in Jaipur right now. The Royals, who lost their opener yesterday by 14 runs with Buttler controversially run out on 69, are looking to make this count.

Last week, their original captain Shane Warne was in the UK to launch the Rajasthan Royals Cricket Academy at Reed’s School in Surrey — more than 4,000 miles from Jaipur.

Senior figures at The Oval did not even know it was happening and seemed unfazed, seeing it as a commercial move, but Rajasthan seem keen to tap into talent from this country.

“Having some of the top names in English cricket gives us a great chance to inspire the next generation of players,” said McCrum.

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“We have a history of scouting and unearthing talent, with our grassroots program in India going from strength to strength with the Royal Colts for boys and Royal Sparks for girls.

“We hope to replicate this with our UK Academy. We are eager to develop a pool of young talent in both countries and see some of them in Royals’ shirts in years to come.”

For Buttler, this is just another example of the Royals “being innovative and doing things differently”. He wonders aloud: “It might unearth someone who is a future captain of the Royals in six years’ time. Why not give it a shot?”

Kids at the academy in Surrey will be taken to India to train, so the cricket will be serious, but Warne says it is “a social thing as much as a sporting thing”. He even suggested it could help end Britain’s knife crime problem.

Passionate: Buttler credits Shane Warne with helping him to build his confidence
Getty Images for Rajasthan Royal

“There has got to be places for kids to go,” he said. “Sport is a great way. Cricket unites everyone from different walks of life… giving people a place to go and have some fun, play some cricket, is very good.”

Rajasthan have also hired a leading PR firm in London with the specific brief of engaging the British press and spreading the Royals’ message.

They held a media breakfast with Badale in January, while Warne and Buttler did plenty of press around the academy launch.

“Our goal is to increase awareness of the Rajasthan Royals amongst UK sports fans with the ultimate aim of building a loyal fanbase of supporters here in the UK,” said McCrum. How far could this go? Fan parks to watch, or even IPL matches played in the UK?

Buttler believes the IPL is now the biggest competition in cricket and the numbers back him up: last year it was valued at £4.8billion and the players are the best paid per game in any sport. Warne’s role has been changed from team mentor to a more commercial role, selling the brand.

He explained: “Because the Royals are growing so quickly — we’re opening the academy here, we’re spreading the message to the US, there’s so much global interest in the IPL now. So we’re spreading the word of what the Royals stand for, trying to help out the brand.”

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