Hrithik Roshan, the dashing young Bollywood actor, has been roped as the brand ambassador of MUmbai Indians squad. Though the amount for which Hrithik Roshan was tapped by the Mumbai Indians is still unknown, the presence of Hrithik is sure to attract a lot of youngsters to the side.

The prize money for the winners of DLF IPL is an astonishing USD 1.2million, which is something that would make the owners of the IPL teams happy. Although for Mumbai Indians the money is not a huge problem, since its owned by none other than Mukesh Ambani, bagging Hrithink  Roshan and even the team itself for astronomical figures would mean that the owners are looking for good returns.

Mumbai Indians will play its first IPL match against Chennai’s Super Kings on April 20. Sachin Tendulkar is quite unlikely to play the first couple of matches due to his groin injury. That will be a big disappointment indeed for all Mumbai Indians fans.

Hrithik Roshan will also lead the fan club of Mumbai Indians, titled  ‘MI Paltan’, a tie-up with Yash Raj Film’s “Tashan” for cross-promotional purposes and the sale of tickets for its matches. Reliance Group logo is absent from the promotional campaigns of Mumbai Indians, and the group has announced that all the future activities of Mumbai Indians would be held under a new company called ‘IndiaWin Sports’. The formation of this new company could well be an indication that the Reliance Group is looking well beyond cricket, perhaps towards a bit of commitment in sports.

Mr. R. Balachandran, Director, IndiaWin Sports and President & Chief Marketing Officer, Reliance Retail, said, “It was done recently. Presently the focus is on IPL and cricket and the objective is to build a very strong foundation. IPL is for perpetuity. “If there is a long term opportunity to engage in more sports we would look at it at the appropriate time.”

As per IndiaWin Sports executives, Hhrithik Roshan was chosen as the brand ambassador of Mumbai Indians by Nita AMbani, the wife of owner Mukesh Ambani. According to Nita Ambani, Hrithik represents  youth, energy and tenacity, and is driven by aspirations.

The partners of Mumbai Indians IPL team are MasterCard and Adidas. The print media campaign of Mumbai Indians feature Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Sanath Jayasuriya and Robin Uthappa, while the audio-visual campaign stars Hrithik ROshan. Hrithik sings a marathi-Hindi mix theme song, ‘Ala re ala’ (here we come), Duniya Hila Denge (Let’s rock the world).

Mumbai Indians has also ropped in the famous commentator Harsha Bhogle as its advisor. Bhogle said, “”We are going to take great care to see that everyone integrates together because people are coming from different places. We have got a lot of youngsters from Maharashtra as well, from Mumbai itself.”

The prominent figure featuring in the Mumbai Indians team are Sanath Jayasuriya, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Pollock, Loots Bosman, Harbhajan Singh and Robin Uthappa. Ashwell Prince will also feature in the team. Other players who will star in the Mumbai Indians team are Ajinkya Rahane, Abhishek Nayar, Yogesh Takawale and Pinal Shah.

Much to the surprise of many Indian cricket fans, Mumbai Indians have also roped in Dominic Thornely, a little-known Australian cricketer. Thornely is known for his aggressive batting and is also known for his combination of medium pace and spin. Some think Sachin is making up for the loss of Andrew Symonds to Deccan Chargers.

Mumbai Indians have started practising for the IPL matches. Heavy security marked the opening day of Mumbai Indians’ practice. The Mumbai Indians team would be staying in the ITC Grand Central, Parel, which will be their home for the coming two months.

The league matches of Mumbai Indians would be held at Nerul’s DY Patil stadium, which is almost 30km from the Mumbai Indians’ hotel.

Some of the teams participating in the IPL have not even started the sale of tickets. They are still looking for a an appropriate date to start the same. It is very clear that this will create some confusion among the fans. Only a few teams have started their ticket sales in their own cities.

The IPL has already received excessive publicity. Cricket fans are eagerly waiting to see the international stars play alongside national and domestic players – but Indian cricket fans have never been interested in actually paying up and watching domestic tournaments such as the Ranji Trophy. Will they finally bite the bullet and pay up this time?

If teams delay their ticket sales, fans will have to hurry for the tickets at the last minute. Ticket prices are also relatively low. Some teams are selling their tickets for just Rs 50 so that even a common man can afford it. But the franchises have not given enough publicity for the ticket sales.

IPL matches are scheduled in such a way that they would end after midnight. Matches will start at timings varying from 2pm to 8pm. The main factors that will affect the sale of tickets are odd timings and rising heat. It is sure that the fans will take care of the abovesaid factors before they book tickets.

Hyderabad team Deccan Chargers have started their ticket sale on Friday. On saturday King XI Punjab of Mohali started the sale. From Sunday onwards Mumbai Indians began the online selling of tickets.

President and chief marketing officer of Reliance Retail, R. Balachandran, says, “We are glad to announce the sale of tickets online and we look forward for the public to extend their support for the Mumbai Indians. The Mumbai Indians team has a great mix of iconic international players and talented youngsters.”

Almost all franchisees have taken up different approaches to attract cricket fans. All spectators will get free refreshments from Deccan Chargers. Deccan Chargers also introduced a lucky draw scheme with fabulous prizes. The prize list includes a Mercedes Benz, seven Maruti Swift cars, 35 Yamaha motorbikes and 35 colour televisions.

To attract the cricket fans, even team-owners have startded selling tickets personally. Preity Zinta, the co-owner of Kings XI Punjab and Australian paceman Brett Lee sold the tickets along with their autographs.

Sudarshana Chakra with Mumbai Indians engraved on it will be the team logo and the jersey colour will be the Indian team’s colour- Blue.

Mumbai IPL captain Sachin Tendulkar himself unveiled the logo. Sachin Tendulkar, who is also the team’s icon player, said Mumbai Indians had a combination of youth and experience.

Hard-hitting Sri Lankan batsman Sanath Jayasuriya will most certainly open with Sachin Tendulkar for Mumbai Indians, the first time after they opened for the Rest of the World against MCC in a charity match in 1998. The charity match was in memory of late Princess Diana.

Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries shelled out $111.9 milion for the team ownership, the highest for any team in IPL.

Sachin Tendulkar also defended the huge sums showered on young players saying the young cricketers deserved it.

The following players were won over by the Mumbai Indians in the first IPL auction.
The second IPL auction will be held this week.

Mumbai Indians: Players, country and bids.

Sachin Tendulkar -India, Icon player

Sanath Jayasuriya – Sri Lanka, 975,000

Harbhajan Singh -India, 850,000

Robin Uthappa – India, 800,000

Shaun Pollock – South Africa, 550,000

Lasith Malinga – Sri Lanka, 350,000

Dilhara Fernando – Sri Lanka, 150,000

Loots Bosman – South Africa, 150,000

(figures in dollars)

Following are the young players in the side:
Ajinkya Rahane
Abhishek Nayar
Yogesh Takawale
Pinal Shah

Sachin Tendulkar, the team’s icon player, outlined the strategy with a emphasis to bag match winners.

Sachin Tendulkar also gave a wish list of players he would like to have in the side to the Reliance top brass. Sachin Tendulkar, one of the games astute thinkers, would earn 15 percent more than the highest earning player in the side.

Sachin also kept the Reliance team posted about the probable availability of the players for the initial edition of IPL, which starts on April 18 and ends on June 1.

Sri Lankan big hitter Sanath Jayasuriya and South African Shaun Pollock is also part of Mumbai team. Sanath Jasuriya will in all probability open the innings with Sachin Tendulkar.

Sri Lankan fast bowlers Lasith Malinga and Dilhara Fernando has also been roped in for the Mumbai IPL squad.

Sachin Tendulkar’s Indian team mates Harbhajan Singh and dashing Karnataka batsman Robin Uthappa is in the Mumbai IPL team.

Sachin Tendulkar also threw his weight on picking young Mumbai Ranji Trophy players Abhishek Nair and Ajinkya Rahane, Maharashtra’s wicket keeper and batsman Yogesh Takawale and Pinal Shah of Baroda Ranji team. It is still not clear if Sachin Tendulkar would captain the Mumbai IPL team or would just play a mentor role.

But unlike Jaipur’s Shane Warne, Sachin Tendulkar would not be the coach of the side, Reliance officials have said.