 24 January 2008
It has often being said that Cricket and Bollywood rule the hearts of India. Yesterday top Industrialists and Bollywood stars rode the cricket bandwagon and made bids for the teams for the T20 championship to be played in a league based on Englands soccer league EPL and Americas NBA, called the Indian Premier League.
The big bucks flowing into the game was an indicator of how the centre of gravity of the game has shifted from Lord's, traditional home of cricket, to the cricket maidans of Mumbai and Kolkata.
Among the bidders were Bollywood star icon Shah Rukh Khan and Indias most wealthiest industralist Mukesh Ambani. Shah Rukh Khan in partnership with Juhi Chawla won the bid for the Kolkata team while Preity Zinta in association with friend Nes Wadia of the Bombay Dyeing group picked up the franchisee right for the team from Mohali in Punjab. Flamboyant Vijay Mallya of the UB Group admitted that he wanted the Mumbai team, but he was outbid by Mukesh Ambani's Reliance. Mukesh Ambani won with the highest bid of $111.9 million for Mumbai team while Mallya's UB Group put in the bid of $111.6 million for Bangalore.
The eight teams for the Indian Premier League are:
1. Mukesh Ambani's Reliance for Mumbai - $111.9 million 2. Vijay Mallya's UB Group for Bangalore - $111.6 million 3. Deccan Chronicle for Hyderabad - $107.01 million 4. India Cements for Chennai - $91 million 5. GMR Holdings for Delhi - $84 million 6. Consortium led by Preity Zinta for Mohali - $76 million 7. Shah Rukh Khan's Red Chillies (with Juhi Chawla and Jay Mehta) for Kolkata - $75.09 million 8. Emerging Media, a consortium including Manoj Badale of England, Lachlan Murdoch and some other investors for Jaipur - $67 million |
