Viiking Ventures and Dambulla a perfect fit

Saturday, 28 November 2020 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Synergy across brands is the hallmark of any shrewd investor, and as such it was a no-brainer for Sachiin Joshi, owner of the Dambulla Viiking Lanka Premier League franchise, to install his iconic Viiking moniker on the team.

“Well, our group entity is called as Viiking Ventures, and the name Viiking was kept with after putting a lot of thought into it. Vikings were known to be noble warriors. When we got the opportunity to acquire the team it was called the Dambulla Lions. I thought why not rename it as Dambulla Viiking so as to create a great synergy and integration with the belief of the company,” explains Joshi.

While the name was changed in the name of synergy, the purchase of the franchise itself was one more in tune with Joshi’s passions. Despite spreading his talents far and wide, with labels such as entrepreneur, businessmen, actor and sports and fitness enthusiast, all fitting Joshi to a tee, sport is arguably where Joshi’s true passion lies.

He is already a player and co-owner of the Celebrity Cricket League team Telugu Warriors, while he is also the driving force behind the JMJ Sports Academy. Joshi also enjoys playing football and cricket in his spare time. As such, when the opportunity came to acquire and promote an LPL franchise, Joshi didn’t hesitate in seizing the opportunity.

“I have been a passionate cricketer myself and when this was offered to me, I immediately got excited as it gets you the potential to be in touch with your first love.”

The LPL’s stated goals of promoting youth and hidden talent in Sri Lanka meshes well with

Joshi’s other ventures such as the JMJ Sports Academy, which has provided a platform for many a sports enthusiasts to showcase their talent on the national stage.

“The idea is to promote the youth, their talent, and our shared love for the sport. We are here to contribute, to make things better,” says Joshi of the LPL. “Any league in the world is to promote the sport, and the talent, and the institution of cricket, hopefully through LPL we get to contribute to this movement. LPL has great potential to achieve that.”

That said, Joshi is keenly aware of the unique challenges posed by hosting a sporting tournament in the middle of a pandemic. Though, he firmly believes with the right drive and execution the tournament and Viiking franchise have the potential to be among the few success stories of 2020.

“Overall, the game is viewed differently. The way franchises normally talk to people has changed as now, everything has moved to off-stadium viewership. The whole part where there’s no crowd in the stadium. It affects everything from getting the morale of the players up, to sale and outreach of merchandise.

“But we will put our heart and soul in the game and all the hard work it needs to be a successful franchise. May the power be with us!”