If the reports are to be believed Bollywood’s power couple Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone are all set to enter the bidding war for the two new IPL teams. Deepika is the daughter of former Indian badminton player Prakash Padukone. She has been seen supporting Royal Challengers Bangalore quite a few times from the stadium.
If the reports turn true, Mr. & Mrs. Singh will join the IPL Bollywood owners list with the likes of Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla who own the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise. Along with Priety Zinta who owns Punjab Kings side in the IPL.
“The BCCI is not keen to give the rights to an off-shore company. And will prefer Indian buyers mostly. But power equations can change the script dramatically,” the source was quoted as saying, Outlook reported.
“Although it is a closed bid, we are expecting a fair and transparent process. The only hodgepodge could happen in the verification/elimination stage. But it is unlikely BCCI will adopt unfair means to favor particular companies,” a bidder said on conditions of anonymity.
Bidding for two new IPL teams to take place on October 25
The results of the bidding will be declared a day after the high octane India and Pakistan match (25th October) at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Earlier, BCCI has postponed the sale of Invitation to Tender (ITT) by 10 days. “Pursuant to requests from various interested parties, BCCI has now decided to further extend the date for purchasing the ITT document till October 20, 2021,” the BCCI said in a statement on October 13. The BCCI has, however, confirmed that the postponement will not delay the sale of the teams. The final date for ITT submission is October 25.
As per news agency PTI, major business houses such as Kotak Group, Aurobindo Pharma, Torrent Pharma, RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, Birla Group, and Adani Group are interested in joining the IPL bandwagon. According to a news report by news agency PTI, BCCI is expecting anything between Rs. 7000 crore to 10,000 crores from the team bidding of IPL.
It has also been learned that Ahmedabad and Lucknow are the frontrunners to become the two new IPL teams for the next season. Previously, the BCCI shortlisted six cities. This includes the likes of Ranchi, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Ranchi, and Cuttack for the same.