Vijay Mallya, the owner of Bangalore Royal Challengers, has kept the captaincy options open. Minutes after picking up Kevin Pietersen at US$1.55 million, Mallya said he was happy with the price he got him at. "The captaincy options are open. The team management will take a decision on it." The Royal Challengers, who finished second last the previous year, were led by Rahul Dravid. However, Pietersen will be available only for three weeks.

"He's a superb addition to our team and I was very keen to purchase him," Mallya said. "I got him for a price I was willing to pay. We needed to strengthen our batting. I would like him to play for all six weeks (of the league), if not this year then next year.

"We looked at the balance of the team after exchanging Zaheer Khan with Robin Uthappa. We have South Africans, Australians and team balance was important. I was keen to buy Kevin to give it the balance. We are delighted to buy him."