Blackburn Rovers to be Indianized?

Venky's (Venkateshwara Hatcheries Group) owned by the Rao family are now the new owners of English Premier League club Blackburn Rovers Football Club. The Rovers are now controlled by the Venky's London Limited, a company created to run and manage the affairs of the club. And the first takeover by an Indian business group has sparked widespread speculations what they could do with the club and such speculation has been aided by statements made by the Rao family members.

Some in Lancashire fear that Blackburn Rovers could be Indianized just like British cuisine has changed from Fish&Chips to Chicken Tikka Masala over the years. And it is a given that from now on some Indian aspects will play a role in the future of Blackburn Rovers, but the new owners of the club will also have to keep local sentiments in mind while trying out new ideas.

One of the first thoughts are about the renaming of the club's historic Ewood Park ground which had been opened in 1882, the second oldest ground of a Premier League team. The Rao's have cited 'The Emirates' Stadium of Arsenal as an example on how to maximise revenue from a ground. Ewood Park could be renamed Venky's Stadium or could adopt the name of another sponsor.

Then there are the possible links with India and there are numerous levels and ways to think about. The first one which comes to mind is an India tour in post- or pre-season to bring the Premiership feeling live to India. Then there is the exchange of expertise with youth coaches and instructors from Blackburn Rovers visiting India or coaches from India coming to Blackburn Rovers to learn the latest training methods. Then there is the chance of young, talented Indian footballers training at the Blackburn Rovers Academy.

And in the end there would be an Indian player playing for the Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League. But that day is surely still sometime away. The Rao's have meanwhile said in the media that they could approach Baichung Bhutia to sign for the Rovers, but that is very unlikely to happen. And honestly there is no player of Premier League quality at the moment in India.

Surely these are exiting times at Blackburn Rovers. And it will be closely followed in India...