KKR CEO: 'Didn't receive any BCCI communication regarding Umesh'

The KKR CEO Venky Mysore denied any knowledge of Umesh Yadav being asked to rest by BCCI.

Umesh Yadav (right) was advised to skip the first two weeks of the Indian Premier League's tenth edition.

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) is an independently viable entity and is now looking to expand its frontiers on its own, said Venky Mysore, the CEO and managing director of KKR during an interaction here on Friday.

“KKR has become an independently viable franchise. This means we do not have any debts and have covered all our losses and have reasonably grown,” Mysore said ahead of IPL 10.

“Now the challenge is to keep building. So we are looking across different brands. And, as a strategy, (we) acquired a franchise in Caribbean Premier League. As a part of branding exercise, this time the colour of the practice jersey will be the same as the colour of our team (Trinbago Knight Riders) in CPL. And when we play there in August we will do the reverse, which means our practice jersey CPL will be purple and gold like what he have in IPL. So we are in the process of integrating our franchises,” he added.

When asked about the key pacer Umesh Yadav’s availability, the KKR CEO denied any knowledge of the player being asked to rest by BCCI.

“We have not received any communication from BCCI on this. I have been hearing a lot about stress management in media. When so much has been written there cannot be smoke without fire,” he said. 

“On the team front I can say that all our bases are covered and we have enough back up for any eventuality. Umesh is a top player but let’s wait and see what comes out officially,” Mysore said.

The KKR CEO informed that some visa-related issues delayed the arrival of most of the international players in the side.

“There have been some visa issues with the government putting a new process in place. This has increased the work on logistic part delaying their arrival. Now it has been sorted, I expect all the foreign players to assemble here within the next 72 hours,” he said.

Trent Boult, Chris Woakes, Nathan Coulter-Nile among others are on their way while players like Shakib Al Hasan and Sunil Narine are on national duty and are expected to join the team before the first match.

Mysore praised the new-look pitch and outfield of the home venue, Eden Gardens, saying that it will offer lot of entertaining cricket. “Eden looks brilliant and it should be the contender for the best ground in the tournament. The outfield and the wicket looks world class and everyone who has played on the wicket is enjoying. I think there will be lot of entertaining cricket in Eden Gardens,” he said.