New Delhi– The 2022 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be a ten-team affair, and Bollywood’s superstar couple Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh are all set to join the bidding war for the two new teams along with other big players.
The IPL governing body has invited bids to acquire the rights of two new teams before the next year’s mega auction of players. With the announcement date drawing closer every day, the race to buy two new IPL teams is really hotting up.
A few days ago, the Adani Group and the RP-Sanjeev Goenka Groups were the ‘favourites’ to walk away with the new teams. But, now it seems that there will be multiple bidders.
According to a report in Outlook India, Bollywood couple Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh could be in the running to own a team, which suggests that the race to own the teams is now bigger than ever.
Deepika — the daughter of former All-England badminton champion Prakash Padukone, has sport in her genes. On the other hand, Ranveer has been involved with the English Premier League and is currently NBA’s brand ambassador for India.
Notably, Bollywood and IPL have a long history. Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla co-own Kolkata Knight Riders, while Preity Zinta has a stake in Punjab Kings. Shilpa Shetty is also known for her association with Rajasthan Royals.
Meanwhile, the Glazer family, which owns many sports properties including Manchester United, one of the world’s most famous football clubs, has also shown interest in owning an IPL team and has picked up the bid documents.
The names of other bidders showing interest are pharma companies like Torrent Pharma and Aurobindo Pharma. A Singapore-based private equity firm and US-based venture capitalists have also shown interest while Naveen Jindal (Jindal Power and Steel) and entrepreneur Ronnie Screwvala are also believed to be keenly involved.
The results will be declared in Dubai on October 25, a day after the most-anticipated cricket fixture of all time – the ICC World T20 blockbuster between India vs Pakistan.
IPL is the world’s most lucrative T20 cricket league and bidders are willing to spend some serious money on buying a team. (IANS)
