If there’s anything we have learnt after nine editions of the Indian Premier League, it’s that subtlety and the cricket event simply do not go together.
For starters, the names of some of the franchises have not exactly been straightforward. We’ve had the Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Kochi Kerala Tuskers. But even by those standards, the newest IPL franchise is pushing the envelope.
On Monday, the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, which purchased the Pune franchise in December, decided to rename the team as "Rising Pune Super Giants". This will allow the team and the group that owns it to be known by the same acronym.
Indian captain MS Dhoni will lead the team, while former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming will serve as coach.
"From day one, we had indicated that our entry in the sports vertical will be for branding purpose," said Sanjiv Goenka, chairman of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group.
While this may have made perfect sense for the owners, fans were not too impressed.
The attempt to cram as many grammatical elements as possible induced much humour on social media. Here's a selection:
Rising Pune Super Giants. I think they just went ahead with the placeholder text.
— K Balakumar (@kbalakumar) January 18, 2016
Rising Pune Super Giants has a real Name-Place-Animal-Thing vibe.
— Abhishek Madan (@abhishekmadan) January 18, 2016
Rising pune super giants... pic.twitter.com/GxNSLf3zAz
— ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ (@ilakatamafuliya) January 18, 2016
Rising Pune Super Giants - more like an advert for Pune city's real estate.
— Roasted Papad (@RoastedPapad) January 18, 2016
Rising Pune Super Giants. Half T20 match will be over before they can say the full name.
— dorku (@Dorkstar) January 18, 2016
Rising Pune Super Giants = Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Something like that. What a name for a new franchise! #PuneIPLTeam
— Chinmay Bhogle (@chinmaybhogle) January 18, 2016
Rising Pune Super Giants. Not sure if cricket team or viagra capsule.
— Trendulkar (@Trendulkar) January 18, 2016
Create your generic team name by using a Verb, Proper Noun, Adjective and Common Noun. Like Rising Pune Super Giants.
— Sychlops (@Sychlops) January 18, 2016
Rising Pune Super Giants Orcs Goblins Barbarians Dragons Archers Town Hall Loot Trophies.
— Téjà Vu (@Teja__Vu) January 18, 2016