It is an important week for the folks at JSW Sports, the sports arm of multi-billion JSW Group. In only its second season in the Indian Super League, Bengaluru FC—the company's football franchise—reached its second final and won the competition, beating FC Goa on March 17. The end of the six-month football league season happens to be just a week away from the start of the next cricket league (Indian Premier League) season.
Mustafa Ghouse
Last year, JSW acquired a 50 per cent stake in the Delhi Daredevils IPL franchise, before renaming it Delhi Capitals. The team has much to prove, having finished in the top four only thrice since the IPL started. The rebranding hopes to provide a fresh start, according to Mustafa Ghouse, CEO of JSW Sports. Under Ghouse, a former tennis professional, the company has three sports teams—kabaddi team Haryana Steelers being the other one—and runs the multi-sport Inspire Institute of Sports in Vijayanagar, Karnataka. Ghouse spoke to THE WEEK about the teams and the mission to revolutionise sports in the country:
Why did JSW Sports feel the need to rebrand the Delhi Daredevils IPL team?
It was a combination of a few things. We wanted to give it a whole new look and give a fresh start to the joint venture. There was just a lot of emotion and response with regard to the team and the type of journey it had over the last dozen years. So, we wanted to give a positive spin on things.
Why name it 'Capitals'?
There were a lot things that came up... what exactly does Delhi stand for, what is the city all about, what do you relate with the team. At the end of the day, it is the capital, and it was just something that had a good ring to it and it has its uniqueness.
IPL teams tend to have a number of ex-cricketers in their staff. Now, your team has roped in Sourav Ganguly as team adviser. How will his role differ from head coach Ricky Ponting and would there not be a clash of ideas?
Their roles are very clear. Ricky is their coach and he is going to lead the team. He is carrying forward all the work that has been put in last season and all through the off-season. Sourav is just there to guide us and add value with his experience and knowledge. They have a really good equation together. So, we are quite excited with this lethal combination—two of probably the most aggressive captains that anyone could have had. So, it should be fun.
Delhi Daredevils has had to deal with the “under-performers” tag for a while now. What is the side doing to try and turn things around this time?
We are just trying to focus on the things that we believe are important for the boys to perform. We had a pre-season camp almost two months ago where there was literally no cricket involved; just bonding, interacting and working on the mindset and the attitude that we would like to see the team gain.
Why did JSW Sports buy a cricket team now?
We started off small with an Olympic programme and we have progressed with a football team, a kabaddi team and the Olympic training facility that has come up. For the last couple of years, we have been talking about having a presence in the IPL as the next step. The conversation started with the GMR group... [and we] felt that this was something that was really worth pushing forward. If we are to be a strong force in India, then being involved in the IPL is important.
I take it that there have been talks of JSW getting full ownership of the team?
There are options in our agreement which would allow that to happen, but right now it is as is.
Moving to football, Bengaluru FC has probably been the most consistent team in the country in the last few years and is blessed with a vibrant fan base. What has been the key to running such a successful venture?
We started off knowing exactly how we wanted to build the club and what was important for us, what would be our principles and what foundation we want to lay for this team. [The fan base] has just grown organically and it just goes hand in hand. The players have to really put in a lot of effort to keep winning and keep performing at this level. So, it is a consolidated effort... Everyone expects a lot of themselves and each department wants to get better every year.
Bengaluru FC were crowned the ISL champions this year | PTI
Would you credit this consistency on the pitch to retaining the core of the staff and players? Few ISL teams can boast of doing that.
We have always tried to do that from year one—to keep a strong nucleus. Even in the first year, we signed players on multi-year contracts which is quite alien for Indian football. No one signs multi-year contracts. The club would not want to commit, the player would not want to commit. But we were very clear [about it]. There is a lot of familiarity within the team and everyone knows what is expected of them.
The Super Cup this year has been plagued by controversy, with I-League teams pulling out for the way the AIFF has turned a blind eye to their demands. How are ISL teams viewing this crisis?
It is kind of unfortunate. The Super Cup is a nice opportunity for everybody to compete against each other. We really enjoyed it last year. We miss playing Mohun Bagan and East Bengal and we got that opportunity last year in the Super Cup. Hopefully they should figure out what is happening and everyone will play the rest of the Cup.
What about the impending merger of the ISL and I-League? What is the view of the ISL teams on how it should happen?
We have always maintained that there should be one league in the country because that is the way Indian football needs to grow—in one direction. It is important that all stakeholders come together and find a solution.
The Inspire Institute of Sport run by JSW is a multi-sport facility. What have been some of the challenges in running a facility of its size?
The institute is still in a very early stage. We will slowly be adding on more sports—we have added on athletics, we will add on swimming in the course of the next 8-10 months, so it is still very early. Surprisingly there have been a lot of good results. The highlight of that being one of judo stars (Tababi Devi) getting a silver medal at the youth Olympics in Buenos Aires last year.
How many children is the institute currently housing?
Currently, there are a little over 110-120 kids training there. We will be adding more very soon. The age group of the kids is somewhere between 12 and 18. So, 13-14 is where a bulk of the kids are.
Mahesh Bhupathi recently told us that more corporates need to step in and fund sporting initiatives in India, like they do in Japan and Korea. Do you see that happening?
I agree. I think in the last 5-6 years that we have been involved, already there has been a massive increase in the number of corporates that are ready to provide support for sport. And it should only increase. The government is also doing their bit. There are many programmes that are being initiated that are very promising and if they are executed well and are consistent, then it will also make a big difference.
But commercialisation also has its drawbacks, right? The corporates start to meddle with the running of the sports bodies and leagues and they have their vested interests, too. So, where do we draw the line?
First of all, I think that we do need sport to get commercialised because growing up if I ever told anyone I wanted to play tennis, they would be like, 'Okay, that is fine but what do you really wanna do in life?' That is [changing] because of the leagues that are there and because of the money that is being pumped into sports.
From my perspective as an athlete, I am just really happy that there are so many leagues. Yes, there are other different challenges and problems that will come up but I think it is a great starting point.
What is next sport that JSW is looking to invest in?
Nothing on the radar right now. IPL was the next step. We would like to see how that plays out and really understand the nuances of that before anything else.
