The responsibilities of a team owner are the same as those of a mother: Kamya Punjabi

Actor Kamya Punjabi, who owns Jaipur Joshiley in Ekta Kapoor and Anand Mishra’s MTV BCL says that she is extremely close to her team and treats them no less than family. The actor adds that as the owner of the team, she has a lot of responsibilities. “It's a big responsibility, from the selection of the players to their practices, their uniforms, taking care of them and selecting the theme, playing element for the matches. The owner has the same responsibility as a mother in a family. I treat my team as my family and we all are extremely close knit. New members come and go but I and the captain of my team, Rajeev Thakur are together since the last three years for BCL. Plus, we are friends from last ten years now,” she says.

She has got a lot of support from Rajeev too. “He is like my support system as far as BCL is concerned. He is the captain and I think I just rely on him blindly and completely. I don't know what would I do without Rajeev Thakur in BCL,” says Kamya.

The actor ensures that her team is comfortable and well taken care of. “I pamper my team, my players. I take them out to parties and we order great food. The atmosphere at the practice and at the matches is like family. I pamper them and I love them all, irrespective of whether we win or we lose,” she says.

The team also reciprocates by putting in their hundred percent. “We all are winners. The way they work hard, the way they give their best, everyone from the team is passionate and united. Nobody is here to make money or their careers. My players, my team, they are all passionate about cricket and they give their best, so they all are winners for me. In the semi-finale, last year we lost by 1 run. And the vision for my team this year is that I see them as winners,” she says.

A true cricket enthusiast herself, Kamya feels that the audience will only love someone in BCL if they play well, regardless of their glamour status on screen. “The audience knows the actors (TV stars) so the way their character is, likewise the expectations are. But for people who are passionate about cricket, they will only see cricket. I would not get into this glamour thing. Let's keep the game and the glamour thing separately. Someone who is playing well would impress me and someone, who might be glamourous, but doesn’t play well, would not,” she says.

Kamya shares a long association with the game. “As you know that I am a cricket freak and have been since so long. There are a lot of players who I like to watch playing on the field. I love cricket, so I love a lot of players. I love MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, Shawn Mars. I love Pakistani players also. There are many so I can't take a particular name,” she says.

Ask her why we don’t see her playing in the field, and she says, “You know I have so many responsibilities as an owner and I feel I might get distracted if I am playing too. I can multitask as well but I feel I should take care of other stuff. I will play some other time but as of now my hands are full.”