Today is the first match for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) cricket team in Indian Premier League (IPL) 5.  They will be playing against Kings XI Punjab on their home ground at Sawai Mansingh stadium, Jaipur. Amongst all the predictions and analysis on how RR will play today’s game, their management, marketing, and promotional activity is also creating news in cricket!

Did you know that the Rajasthan Royals is the only IPL cricket team to lay claim to “two” home grounds. Yes, the RR website claims that both Sawai Mansingh stadium at Jaipur and Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium in Ahmedabad are their home grounds!!

If you thought that Rahul Dravid, Shane Watson, and Ashok Menaria are the star attractions in the team, you will be surprised at how RR is promoting Sreesanth! Sreesanth and his band S36 will entertain crowds with a new version of the Rajasthan Royal’s anthem called Halla Bol and other music scores before the game today. The anthem Halla Bol is already playing on TV and features (yes, you guessed it right) Shilpa Shetty! So, it will be interesting to see how Sreesanth and his band are going to sing it differently!

What’s also interesting is the comprehensive support team of RR. Its eight member support team includes a massage head called Derek Sedgmen and a Kit Logistics Manager called Zaheer Ahmed!  Kings XI Punjab, on the other hand, has a modest four member support team that includes assistant coach, team manager, video analyst, and trainer! So, don’t be surprised if you hear Adam Gilchrist complaining!

RR’s extensive support team is only possible because of its long list of sponsors including biggies like UltraTech, Puma, Marriott, TCS, and Red 93.5 radio channel. That’s not all, RR even has an official snack’s partner called Bikaji, and team partners including Doublemint chewing gum, and Mountain Dew.

Does that mean that all RR players have signed a contract to eat Bikaji namkeen and drink Mountain Dew, both on and off field? They have already been forced into wearing pink, practice, jerseys to show solidarity with the pink city! Today’s IPL T20 game will help us understand how pink jerseys, masseurs, kit logistic managers, two home grounds, and excessive sponsors have affected the Rajasthan Royal cricketers .