BEING the defending champions is a matter of pride and joy, but it does bring pressure and owner of Neco Master Blaster Anand Jayaswal accepts the fact. Neco Master Blaster got better of Pagariya Strikers in final of inaugural edition of Vidarbha Premier League last year to be crowned champions. Both the teams square off again in opening match of VPL Season 2 that gets underway at VCA’s Jamtha stadium on Monday evening. “Of course, it (being defending champions) brings pressure. But the pressure is because benchmark for your performance has been set. You know, that next time you have to perform better than that, not below it. So, that pressure will definitely be there. “For this season, our biggest strategy is to improve upon the performance we put up last year. We want our players to perform even better, play with 200 per cent commitment and win the trophy,” said Anand Jayaswal on eve of the tournament opener. “Being the defending champions is a wonderful opportunity where you are the winner and you have to defend it. Because of this, the motivation within the team is at a completely different level. I am sure, given the way our team has been formed and the way preparations are going, this team will be able to defend the title again,” added Ramesh Jayaswal, Managing Director of the Neco Group sitting beside his nephew. Though the squad is depleted, with skipper Jitesh Sharma (IPL) and original vice-captain Harsh Dubey (India duty) to miss the game, Jayaswal sounded confident of his boys. Even in their women’s team, Neco will be missing star player Bharti Fulmali who is in Indian women’s team for England T20s and the following T20 World Cup.

 

“Adhyayan Daga will be our captain tomorrow. But our team is strong, and of course, we have the full guidance of our captain and vice-captain. Jitesh, despite being busy with the IPL, keeps guiding the whole team from there. He will take charge from the second match. Our team is solid. We hope that even without Jitesh and Harsh, we will put up a good performance. “Neco player playing IPL and being selected in India teams is our gain. It is a proud moment for us that Harsh was selected for the men’s Indian team and Bharti was selected for the women’s team. Bharti was with our team last year as well and she is a big talent. “We hope Bharti puts up a good performance there,” said Anand Jayaswal with a sense of pride. Neco management gave a free hand to captain and coach during the auction. “In the auction, our role as management was minimal regarding team selection. We handed that responsibility to our coach and captain asking them to achieve the balance. We wanted to retain most of our team but according to the rules we could only retain a maximum of six players. After that, we picked the players based on the best possible combination. “We got what we wanted. The team and the combination we were looking for turned out exactly like that. We are very positive about the player selection and their performances,” said Ramesh Jayaswal. All the six VPL franchisees are on the same page as far as promotion of cricket in the region is concerned. “Vidarbha has a lot of talent but they never got the opportunity. Today, because of the VPL, they are getting a huge platform to showcase their talent and progress. A few players have made it to the IPL and are performing well there. Even if you look at Praful (Hinge), his IPL journey started from the last season of VPL.

 

“This is a matter of great joy for all of us. In fact, not just us, all the franchises have unanimously agreed on this thought process: how to get more players from Vidarbha to play in the IPL. In fact, in some matches one would see a franchise owner donning another franchise T-shirt and cheering for that team,” Jayaswal said with a smile. Neco Group is open to supporting other sports too. “We are a cricket-loving family but apart from cricket we support other sports also. We are supporting city’s top badminton player Malvika Bansod and try to provide her with the best training and infrastructure so she can perform better at the global level. We would like to support other sports also. “We also have some plans in the initial stages to work toward the development and growth of sports beyond cricket. The idea is that children who wish to go to the Olympics or Asian Games should also get a platform and infrastructure. So, we might work in that direction in the near future,” said Ramesh Jayaswal.