5 bizarre cricket team names

Karachi Zebras, Colors X-Factors, Uva Next, St Lucia Zouk and Rising Pune Supergiants are our five. What is yours?

To quote Shakespeare, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” It is the passion or intent that matters. A proper arrangement (or assortment) of letters, however, should be a basic requirement, especially when it comes to naming teams you are supposed to represent, or own. In the cricket, to be more precise, in domestic T20 leagues, team names are often designed to have to make the franchise more appealing, more hep to fans and spectators, to get more merchandise sold. Franchise-owners tend to come up with fancy names and jerseys; they get to sell more that way; the fan base increases; and the impact becomes deeper. Indeed, the name plays a role, and you cannot blame the team owners for naming teams the way they want to. Unfortunately, not always do plans live up to expectations. Paulami Chakraborty lists a few cricket team names that ended up sounding more bizarre than attractive.

Karachi Zebras: A comparison of teams with various powerful animals is a very common phenomenon. From Lions to Cheetahs to Cobras — cricket has seen it all. But naming a team after an innocent zebra? That is certainly not an idea that pops up in your mind every day. The name lacks relevance, looking at the fact that zebras have nothing to do with Pakistan; if you discount zoos, you are not likely to find a single specimen within thousands of miles. I really do not intend to offend the poor monochrome socialite creature, but they more remind of roads than a side set out to bask in cricket glory.

Colors X-Factors: Along with cricketing abilities, something that a player must have is X-factor. But naming a team after it is probably not the best idea. Nepal Premier League franchise must have thought of having a name of class but ended up sounding more like a Television reality show.

Uva Next: Next? Seriously? Next what? A cricket team called Next? What does it sound like, “the next Next batsman is so-and-so”? The Sri Lanka Premier League franchise represents the Uva province, and were probably trying to seek an uber cool gen-next name for the team. Too much straightforward for us mortals, perhaps. Uva Unicorns, their earlier name, was perhaps a tad too conventional for them.

St Lucia Zouk: The purpose of cricket is to entertain, and few do it better than West Indians. Of course, they are also known for their music and dance moves. But calling a team Zouk (literal translation from Creole: “shake intensely and repeatedly”) is perhaps taking things a bit too much. But then, Darren Sammy was the first St Lucia cricketer to play Test cricket…

Rising Pune Supergiants: Pune, check. Rising, check. Supergiants. Wait, what? Supergiants? Why not Rising Pune, or Pune Supergiants, or even Rising Pune Supergiants? Why add everything in the world? And if you are indeed set out to do all that, why stop there? Why not Rising Every Morning Pune Size XXL Royal-Blue-Coloured Supergiants Set Out to Bash Every Team in the World?

(Paulami Chakraborty, a singer, dancer, artist, and photographer, loves the madness of cricket and writes about the game. She can be followed on Twitter at @Polotwitts)

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