MUMBAI: Sahara Group?s Subroto Roy today said that he is open to negotiations with the BCCI as far as his IPL team Pune Warriors is concerned, but made it clear that the group is no longer keen in sponsoring the Indian cricket team.

Roy said that he will continue supporting Pune Warriors because he doesn?t want his players to suffer and miss the fifth edition of the IPL.

Roy added that cricket is immensely popular in India and that his company?s pullout won?t affect the BCCI?s coffers since there are several corporate majors willing to sponsor the cricket team.

"Ten years back sponsorship was difficult in cricket. But now cricket is very rich and there are many people who are interested to be sponsor. So I don?t think there is any problem. But I have promised them I am not going to walk out till they get a sponsor," said Roy.

MUMBAI: BCCI president N. Srinivasan has said that cricket?s richest board is willing to meet with Sahara and have have discussions to resolve contentious issues.

On Saturday Sahara had announced that it was cutting off ties to cricket, including the IPL where it owned a franchise.

Srnivasan said Monday BCCI has had a good relationship with Sahara. "Most certainly, we are ready to meet and sort out the matters. We have no problems with that. We do appreciate what Sahara has done. I am open to dialogue and BCCI is open to dialogue. We recognise there were grievances on their part but there was no reason to break suddenly."

MUMBAI: Youth channel UTV Bindass is launching in February-end a cricket reality show, Cricket Champs.

The show, produced in association with Indraprastha All India Sports Foundation (IAISF), seeks to identify the budding cricket talent from across thecountry; it will provide an opportunity for potential young cricketers.

UTV Bindass business head Keith Alphonso said, ?We at Bindass are known to create path breaking programming and are happy to present to our viewers an exciting mix of sports and reality with Cricket Champs. The concept of the show has a purposive goal aimed at giving youth a platform to showcase their sporting talent. The show will bring alive the spirit of the youth and help promote the budding sports talent in India.?

Cricket Champ is being powered by Bhushan Pharmaceuticals. The sponsors include Akai Mobiles, nexGTv, Koovs.com, Puri Group and Livemedia. Reebok is the Fitness Partners while Aircel has come on board as the Telecom Partners. Pioneer Publicity India is the outdoor partner for the show.

IAISF chairperson Rohini Rajdev added, ?IAISF aims at bringing talent from hinterland to mainland. As an NGO, we wish to create opportunities for those, who have a dream to become not only the Indian cricketer but also the Indian captain, the cricket champ, however, they do not have any opportunity and resources to fulfill their dreams. This show will help them in coming up and showing their talent. The entire country would horn their skill and abilities and give them opportunity to play higher league form?.

Cricket Champs will hold auditions covering 300 schools, colleges and coaching centres across India with cricket representatives like Irfan and Yusuf Pathan, Keerti Aazad, Piyush Chawla. The cricketers will be chosen in two categories: Under 16 and under 22. The West and East zone includes Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, Bihar, Jharkhand, Bhubaneswar; North zone covers Delhi, Chandigarh, Jaipur, UP; and south zone has Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai.

Once through with the auditions, the selected participants will be judged on their performances.

UTV Bindass viewers can also participate through voting and the contestant who receives the maximum votes umulatively will be declared as the ?Cricket Champ?.

The winner of the show will win a cash prize of Rs 1 million and the top 10 players will get an opportunity to be a part of the IPL coaching, where they will be coached by some of the renowned names in cricket.

TThe aspiring cricketers can apply through application forms available with the coaches in their respective cities across the country. The form can also be downloaded from the IAISF website www.indraprasthasportsfd.com.

MUMBAI: After cricket and hockey, Sahara Group chairman Subroto Roy is showing new interest in a sport that is evolving in India: Formula One motor racing.

Sahara, which owns the Pune franchise of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and sponsors the Indian cricket team, has bought 42.5 per cent stake in Vijay Mallya-owned Force India, the country?s first F1 team, for $100 million.

The team will be renamed Sahara Force India.

Mallya?s UB group will also own an equal stake in the motor racing team while the remaining 15 per cent will be with the Mol family.

In 2007, Mallya and Dutch entrepreneur Michiel Mol had acquired for around 90 million Euros the Spyker Formula One team, which was suffering losses at that time. The team was later rechristened Force India.

In a joint press conference today, India.

In a joint press conference today, Mallya and Sahara said both of them are very happy about the deal and that Mallya will remain the Team Principal.

On 30 October, India will for the first time host Grand Prix at the 120,000-capacity Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida, UP.

Mallya, who runs a profitable liquor outfit, needs to find cash to rescue his ailing Kingfisher Airlines business. He also owns the Bangalore franchise of the IPL.

The Sahara group had acquired the Pune franchise of the cash-rich IPL last year for $370 million. It is also the main sponsor of the national cricket team.

Force India is ranked sixth in the Formula One constructor?s standings with 48 points in the current season. The current drivers of the team are German Adrian Sutil and Britain?s Paul Di Resta.