"This time KKR team is much stronger"

Cricket expert Harsha Bhogle spoke to Manish Porwal and Ashok Mallik in STAR Cricket's Money Talks about Knight Riders.

IPL is not silly money, it is a serious franchise.

Cricket and Bollywood have always been very important in India but now they have merged effortlessly.

"Our bowling resources are fairly strong"

"IPL was meant to be hard core business for India Cements and GMR, and that's where it delivered," said Porwal, CEO, Percept Talent Management.

It was something that was waiting to happen.

"Big players gave money to franchisees as they wanted to get the particular team they wanted," Porwal said.

"There is a certain amount of vanity in saying 'I own a team'," pointed out Mallik, a senior journalist.

For KKR, Shah Rukh Khan brought endorsements, deals and a fan base that went beyond the city of Kolkata. He brought back the club culture to the City of Joy, a frenzy that was on the verge of disappearance.

KKR had enough ammunition in 2008 to lead it to the top but ended up sixth on the points table with six victories out of 11 matches.

However, Joy Bhattacharya, KKR manager, said that this time the team is much stronger than the last season.

"Our bowling resources are fairly strong. We also have Ajantha Mendis for the entire season this year. In terms of batting, we would have the services of Brendon McCullum and Brad Hodge throughout and Chris Gayle for sometime."

Mortaza excited about playing in IPL

When asked about the whole effort to include Bangladeshi seamer Mushrafa Mortaza in the team, Bhattacharya said that it was entirely a monetary based decision that was made by Shah Rukh.

It was the last spot left and they had decided it would be Mortaza.

The Sourav Ganguly led team is the most flamboyant in the IPL.

The coming weeks will show how the Knight Riders perform with the strong line-up they have.