Marvan Atapattu appointed as mentor of the Belagavi Panthers for KPL 2017

Bengaluru, 16 August 2017: Belagavi Panthers announced the appointment of former Sri Lanka captain and coach Marvan Atapattu as the team’s mentor during the Karbonn Smartphones Karnataka Premier League 2017. Atapattu will join the squad on 4 September and will be with them for the duration of the tournament.

Commenting on the association, Mr. Ali Asfak Thara, owner of Belagavi Panthers, said: “We are delighted to have Mr. Atapattu on board as a mentor for Belagavi Panthers in the upcoming KPL. We are sure that his experience in the international arena will bring a lot of exposure to our players, and will help them reach the next level.”

Atapattu featured in a total of 90 Tests and 268 One-Day Internationals for Sri Lanka in a career spanning 17 years. He scored 5502 Test runs, including16 hundreds, and 8529 ODI runs comprising 11 hundreds. With such a track record, Atapattu’s experience will certainly be a big boost for the Belagavi Panthers.

On his part, Atapattu too was thrilled with the opportunity. “I am happy and excited to work with the team and pass on my experience and expertise to the players,” he said.

Before Atapattu joins the squad, Belagavi Panthers will travel to Dubai to train at the ICC Academy from 20-26 August. Plans are also afoot to train under lights so as to simulate match conditions at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium (DICS).

The squad’s sessions at the ICC Academy will be supervised by Jacob Oram, the former New Zealand all-rounder. Mr. Ali Asfak Thara was particularly delighted with Oram’s involvement. He said: “Jacob Oram has been a very useful cricketer in the T20 format. We are hoping that he can pass on some vital knowledge to our squad during the training in Dubai. With the weather in Dubai being very hot, we will be training mostly under lights. More than anything else the trip to Dubai is an opportunity to build a strong bond in the squad.”

The squad will be formally introduced to the state of Karnataka at a mega launch scheduled for 27 August.

Indian Women’s cricket star Veda Krishnamurthy, meanwhile, has been appointed brand ambassador of the franchise. “We are really pleased to appoint one of the leading icons of women’s cricket in Veda as our brand ambassador. Veda will also be joining the squad during the Dubai trip and will also be at our matches during the tournament,” said Mr. Ali Asfak Thara.

The Karbonn Smartphones KPL 2017, powered by Cycle Pure Agarbathies, will be played in the memory of S.D.N.R Wadiyar, the former president of the KSCA and the scion of the Mysore royal family. The tournament is the brainchild of former Indian cricketer Brijesh Patel and he has been instrumental in the successful implementation of the league over the last five years.