It’s common knowledge now that two new teams will be added to the Indian Premier League from the 2022 edition. The bidding process is expected to take place on October 25 with the Adani Group and RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group likely to be key players in the race. But if media reports are anything to go by, the bidding race could see actors Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh being a part of the process to own an IPL team. Outlook reported that the Bollywood couple is all set to bid and become a part of the richest cricket league in the world.
Bollywood and IPL have a long history. Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla co-own Kolkata Knight Riders, while Preity Zinta also has stakes in Punjab Kings. Shilpa Shetty is known for her association with Rajasthan Royals. Both Deepika and Ranveer are no strangers to sports. Deepika’s father Prakash Padukone is a former world no.1 badminton player and an All England champion. Ranveer is known for his partnership with English Premier League, and is the current brand ambassador of world’s most popular basketball league – NBA – in India.
Among other possible surprise bidders are the Glazer family which owns the English football club Manchester United. According to the Outlook report, the BCCI does not want a foreign company to own an IPL team. “The BCCI is not keen to give the rights to an off-shore company and will prefer Indian buyers but power equations can change the script dramatically,” Outlook quoted a source as saying.
