United Spirits Limited, the associate partner of Deccan Chargers who tore the form book apart during IPL-2, have come out with volume chronicling the top team’s success story. Put up for auction, the pictorial book with a base price of Rs 10,000, went under the hammer for Rs 18,000.
Chargers follower Mr Sambandha Swamy, who beat down competition for his prized possession, told this newspaper that he had actually bid for his son, an upcoming cricketer in Hyderabad. “My son Sanjay is a die-hard fan of cricket, especially the Deccan Chargers. This book is for him,” he said.
“Sanjay is preparing for his intermediate exams, this will spur him on to do well,” Mr Swamy added about his son who trains at the St John’s Sports Coaching Foundation, which shaped up VVS Laxman among many other Hyderabad cricketers.
Ashok Capoor, deputy president of USL, raised a toast to the team followed by three cheers for the Chargers amid confetti being showered on the squad. He termed it “a tribute to the rare and legendary achievement of the Chargers in IPL-2 as they literally turned the tables to leap from bottom to the top.”
Captain Adam Gilchrist was “thrilled to be launching a successful brand.”
“It makes a great relationship,” he said.
Gilly thought the USL theme was much like his own team’s. “It’s based on friendship and camaraderie — our strength that led to the title triumph,” he said.
Later, the entire team autographed a mock up creative of the front page of the book put up on the stage. Mr Capoor said 500 books would be available at a first-come-first-served basis at a base price of Rs 10,000.