Brunch with the Bulls: KPL 2017 finalists all set for the new season

It’s been a couple of months since the Indian Premier League concluded and the T20 fever is back! The Karnataka Premier League, one of the most popular domestic T20 competitions in India is scheduled to begin in a few weeks. The teams are beginning to get ready for the start of another exciting season after the nail-biting auction which took place at the KSCA on July 21.

Last year’s finalists, the Bijapur Bulls, kickstarted their season with a meet and greet brunch at the Taj West End in Bengaluru on July 22. The session saw the Bulls players and coaching staff interact with each other and get to know each other on a personal level.

The team owner, Mr Kiran Kattimani was present as well and was interacting with all the players. He is the owner of Vivid Kreations, which is an architectural and interior design company.

The four players who were retained by the Bulls were Bharat Chipli, KC Cariappa, Ronit More, and Naveen MG

Apart from these four, the Bulls purchased quite a few talented stars, namely KP Appanna, Mir Kaunain Abbas, Zahoor Farooqui, and KP Appanna.

"We were looking forward to buying a few players for a long time and we have finally got them. Over the past few years, the Bulls have been a closely knit unit, just like a family and that is what makes us tick. We are a young side. We promote young talent. We give them the ownership to perform. We should go ahead and enjoy the season and play to the best of our potential," said Kattimani.

Cariappa, the talented spinner who has played in the IPL as well, is playing his fifth season with the Bulls and it was no surprise that he was the most vociferous of them all – cracking jokes, pulling his teammates’ legs, and of course, encouraging them all to perform well in the upcoming season.

"Seniors should be there in every team to share their experience. The youngsters are coming to Bijapur Bulls to play here and are even going on to play for Karnataka from here. They see names like Chipli, Cariappa and Chogule, they see the dream and come," he said.

Bharat Chipli, who is likely to lead the side once again, opened up about the importance of playing for the Bulls and inspired all his teammates to come out all guns blazing on the field.

The players enjoy an informal session along with team owner and coach

The team owner, CEO, and coach, all raised a toast and spoke about the history of the Bulls and inspired the entire team to pull their socks up and get ready for the upcoming season.

Deepak Chougule, who is the head coach of the side, opened up about the auctions and the upcoming season.

"The auction was good for us, we planned for a few things. We wanted to buy Robin (Uthappa). But a couple of things didn't go our way due to the purse we had. But whatever changes we have got, we are happy with. We have a good side with a mixture of youth and experience.

We've got a good team and we have to start preparing well. That is what's important for us. We have another 15-20 days to go," said Deepak.

Bijapur came extremely close to lifting the title last time around, however, they were stopped in the final hurdle by the Belgavi Panthers.

With a mix of youth and experience in their squad this time around, we can surely expect the Bulls to come out fighting once again and probably go one step ahead and lift the KPL title come September 9.