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Ahmedabad franchise in WPL to be called ‘Gujarat Giants’

The Ahmedabad franchise in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) will be called ‘Gujarat Giants, the owners — Adani Sportsline, the sports arm of the Adani Group — has announced.

Notably, the Adani Group acquired the Ahmedabad franchise with the highest bid of Rs 1289 crores at the auction held by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday.

It is expected that the inaugural edition of the WPL could be held in March this year while the player auction for the tournament is likely to be held in February.

“The Indian women’s cricket team has been doing exceptionally well — and a cricket league for women is a significant step in creating more opportunities for women through sports,” said Pranav Adani, Director, Adani Enterprises.

The Gujarat Giants cricket franchise in the upcoming Women’s Premier League joins Adani Sportsline’s family of successful teams, like the Gulf Giants in the ongoing ILT20 in the UAE, and the Gujarat Giants in the Pro Kabaddi League.

“Cricket is an inseparable part of the country’s fabric and Adani Sportsline was keen to begin their association with the sport with the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League. While I wish every other franchise the very best, I look forward to the Gujarat Giants standing out as the top team in this new, exciting league,” he added.

Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals (RR), the IPL 2008 champions congratulated the BCCI for bringing WPL closer towards turning it into reality.

“We would like to extend our best wishes for this new beginning to all the successful bidders and also congratulate the BCCI on bringing the Women’s Premier League to life. It is a huge step forward for Indian cricket, and will prove to be a game changer for women’s sports across the globe,” the franchise said in an official statement.

The franchise had also bid for a team in the WPL, but were unable to be among the top five winning bidders.

Apart from Adani Sportsline, Indiawin Sports Pvt. Ltd acquired the Mumbai franchise with a bid of INR 912.99 crores. Royal Challengers Sports Pvt. Ltd, JSW GMR Cricket Pvt. Ltd and Capri Global Holdings Pvt. Ltd won the rest of the three teams, Bangalore, Delhi and Lucknow respectively with winning bids of INR 901 crores, INR 810 crores and INR 757 crores respectively.

“That being said, we are obviously disappointed not to have won the bid for a team in this historic inaugural season of the Women’s Premier League. We always knew there was going to be a lot of competition given the IPL’s success in the men’s format, but still were hopeful of securing a women’s franchise to extend the Royals Family and hope there will be an opportunity to do so in the future,” RR said.

Rajasthan remarked they would continue to do their bit of unearthing next generation of female cricketers in India.

“At the Royals, we have been deeply committed to the women’s game and that will continue. We are significantly investing in our new talent hunt ‘Cricket Ka Ticket’ to find the best female cricketers from across the country and provide them with a development pathway to the new Women’s Premier League and hopefully the India team, while our High Performance Centre in Nagpur continues to serve as a hub for both female and male athletes through world-class coaching to aid in their overall progression,” it said.

“With the objective of strengthening women’s grassroots cricket even further, we will also continue to invest in organising and expanding competitions such as the Rajasthan Royals Women’s Cup which can prove to be a stepping stone for potential female cricketing superstars of Indian cricket.”

Our intention is to keep scaling these investments and also look at other avenues to enable the growth of women’s cricket in India, and take it to the next level,” it added.

Earlier, on January 16, Viacom18 Media Private Limited won the consolidated bid for media rights (i.e., Global Televisions Rights and Global Digital Rights) of the WPL for the period of 2023-2027.

Viacom18 won the rights with a bid of INR 951 crores, which translates to a per match value of INR 7.09 crores. It is believed that 22 matches could be held for the first three seasons with a possibility of increasing the matches to either 33 or 34 from 2026 onwards.

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After Adani & GMR, Manipal Group acquires franchise in Legends League Cricket

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Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG) have become the third franchise owners in the upcoming second edition of the Legends League Cricket (LLC), scheduled to be held in India from September 16.

The second edition of the league will be a four-team franchise affair with Adani Group and GMR Group having already acquired a team each while the third being owned by the Manipals.

LLC 2 will kikc-off at the historic Eden Gardens in Kolkata followed by Lucknow, New Delhi, Cuttack and Jodhpur while the venues for the play-offs and the finals will be revealed soon.

Commenting on the development, Ranjan Pai, chairman, MEMG said, “We are excited on this partnership with Legends Cricket League. This association with a sport that’s loved by every Indian, will enable us to reach out and positively impact the lives of fellow Indians to realise their dreams through world-class education and healthcare services, besides ensuring financial protection of hospitalisation through health insurance.”

Meanwhile, Vivek Khushalani, chairman, LLC said: “We are happy to onboard Manipal Group as our third franchise. Associating with the cricketing legends will help the brand even more.”

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Adani Group-owned franchise in Legends League Cricket to be known as Gujarat Giants

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Adani Group, the multinational conglomerate,  on Friday named their newly-acquired franchise in Legends League Cricket (LLC) as ‘Gujarat Giants’.

Earlier on Thursday, it was announced that the Ahmedabad-headquartered company had acquired a franchise in the competition, making this their second investment in T20 leagues after acquiring a franchise in the UAE’s ILT20 named as ‘Gulf Giants’.

Commenting on the development, Pranav Adani, Director, Adani Enterprises said: “For those of us who have lived through different eras of cricket, nothing stirs our passions like watching our favourites back in action. These are giants of the game and there is no doubt that the spiritual home of Legends League Cricket is in India, in our fantastic cricket stadiums in front of our fantastic crowds.”

“And we call our team of Legends as Gujarat Giants. Make no mistake, this is competitive cricket at the highest level between teams that are playing to win,” he added.

“Adani Sportsline is privileged to have the opportunity to own and manage one of the four teams in the Legends League. We are especially privileged because this inaugural season in this format is dedicated to Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, celebrating the 75th year of India’s independence. I cannot wait to see some of the greatest cricketers in the game’s history doing what they do best,” added Pranav Adani.

As per a recent announcement, LLC 2s will begin from a special match in Kolkata followed by matches in Lucknow, New Delhi, Cuttack and Jodhpur. The Play-offs and finals are expected to be in Dehradun. Overall, 15 matches are to be played in this season.

Notably, the upcoming season will be a four-team franchise model, marking a change from the three-team format in its last season, where India, Rest of Asia and Rest of the World were the teams.

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Adani Group, GMR Group acquire franchises in Legends League Cricket

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Legends League Cricket (LLC) on Thursday announced that Adani Group, and GMR Group had acquired franchises in the tournament.

After the signing, this will be GMR Group’s third investment in franchise cricket while this the second investment in T20 leagues for the Adani Group. Notably, both the groups had recently acquired teams in the UAE’s ILT20, with GMR Group also being the co-owner of Delhi Capitals team in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The upcoming edition of the League is a four-team franchise model, which is a change from the three-team format in its last season.

Recently, the league had announced that the upcoming season has been dedicated to the 75th year celebration of India’s Independence and is being held in India from September 16 onwards, starting from a special match between India vs World as India Maharajas vs World Giants.

Speaking on the move, Kiran Kumar Grandhi, Managing Director, GMR Group, said: “GMR has been in close relationship with the sport of cricket for nearly two decades now. Our relationship with cricket started with our IPL franchise Delhi Capitals. We then spread our Capitals universe with our First overseas team in the International League T20, with the Dubai Capitals and now in the legends league, we have tried to give our fans, who are like our family, some experiences that they will cherish for a long time.”

“What makes this association sweeter is the fact that Legends League Cricket will feature some of the best cricketers who have played a very definitive role in popularising this beautiful sport not only in every corner of India but globally as well. To see them perform in India together for the first time is a dream come true for many fans including myself. These legends are the ones who shaped up our devotion and love for the sport and I cannot wait to see them in action again,” he added.

On the other hand, Pranav Adani, Director – Adani Enterprises said: “For those of us who have lived through different eras of cricket, nothing stirs our passions like watching our favourites back in action. These are giants of the game and there is no doubt that the spiritual home of Legends League Cricket is in India, in our fantastic cricket stadiums in front of our fantastic crowds. Make no mistake, this is competitive cricket at the highest level between teams that are playing to win.”

“Adani Sportsline is privileged to have the opportunity to own and manage one of the four teams in the Legends League. We are especially privileged because this inaugural season in this format is dedicated to Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, celebrating the 75th year of India’s independence. I cannot wait to see some of the greatest cricketers in the game’s history doing what they do best,” he added.

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Adani Sportsline announced as official partner of Indian Olympics Association for CWG 2022, Asian Games & Paris Olympics

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Sports arm of the Adani Group — Adani Sportsline has become an official partner with the Indian Olympics Association (IOA) for the upcoming Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022, Hangzhou Asian Games 2022 and Paris Olympic Games 2024.

Notably, it will be for the second time that the Adani Group has come on board with IOA. The earlier association was in 2021, when the group sponsored the Indian Contingent during the Tokyo Olympics.

The partnership is an extension of the Adani Group’s sports portfolio that focuses on building a world-class ecosystem to nurture sporting talent, accelerate the sports economy, and play the role of an enabler in India’s journey to becoming a leading sporting nation.

“We are delighted to welcome Adani Sportsline’s participation in our journey of representing Indian athletes across the global platforms. Corporate participation will help emerging sports stars, allowing India to genuinely become a sporting nation,” said IOA Secretary General, Rajeev Mehta in a statement.

Speaking on the occasion, Pranav Adani, Director, Adani Enterprises Ltd., said, “It is our privilege to support our athletes’ journeys in their quest to bring glory to India. We celebrate this journeythrough our initiative #GarvHai. The association with IOA is a natural extension of expressing our support for the Indian Contingent.”

Adani Sportsline has supported over 28 athletes through its athlete support initiative, across a variety of sports. Six of these athletes represented India at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and among them was wrestler Ravi Kumar Dahiya, who brought home a silver medal in the 57 kg division.

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Adani Group acquires franchise in UAE T20 League

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Adani Sportsline, a part of the Adani Group, on Monday made a foray into franchise cricket by acquiring the rights to own and operate a franchise in UAE T20 League.

Licensed by the Emirates Cricket Board, the UAE T20 League will be an annual event that will feature six teams competing in a 34-match event. Top players from all the cricket-playing nations are expected to be in the line-up of different teams.

The league will also provide a platform to upcoming cricketers. This will be the first major move overseas by Adani Sportsline that will ‘connect and engage with global fans’ from across the cricketing nations.

‘It is a proud moment for us to announce the Adani Group’s association with the UAE’s T20 League as a franchise team owner. This acquisition fits perfectly in the group of corporates who have already acquired franchise team rights in the league. The trust shown by the Adani Group augurs well for the league and we look forward to benefitting from their business acumen and working together to make our league successful,’ Khalid Al Zarooni, UAE’s T20 League chairman said.

‘We are excited to be part of the UAE T20 league,’ said Pranav Adani. ‘The UAE is an amazing amalgamation of several cricket-loving nations. It provides an excellent platform for enhancing the visibility of cricket as the sport goes increasingly global. Our presence here is also a great base for the Adani brand that is contributing significantly to the sports ecosystem in India through leagues such as boxing and kabaddi, and nurturing sporting talent at the grassroots level through the Garv Hai initiative,’ he said.

Reliance Industries Limited, Lancer Capital, GMR Group and Capri Global have acquired a team each in the UAE T20 League.

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Sanjiv Goenka’s RPSG bags Lucknow, CVC Capital acquires Ahmedabad franchise of IPL

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The Sanjeev Goenka-owned RPSG group and international investment firm – CVC Capital – on Monday bagged the ownership rights of the two new franchises of the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL).

While the RPSG Group picked Lucknow as their home base with a winning bid of Rs 7090 crores, the CVC Capital went for Ahmedabad with the second-highest bid of the auctioning which is in excess of Rs 5000 crores.

After the development, Sanjiv Goenka, who previously owned the Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS), said: “A lot of planning and calculation has gone into our bidding.”

“I give credit to personal staff for winning the bid,” Goenka was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

Notably, CVC is the same firm which had attempted a deal with La Liga (but was opposed by Real and Barca) and now has an elaborate plan to bring together ATP and WTA Tours with a fund that can go up to four billion dollars.

Private Equity player CVC Capital had recently bought LA Liga and also owns Formula One and Rugby teams.

Notably, as many as 10 parties had entered the bidding war on Monday and had got an option to choose from from six centres – Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Cuttack, Dharamsala, Guwahati and Indore – to base their team in.

As per reports, all the interested parties were asked to submit two envelopes – one for personal and financial credentials and the second for the bid and the entire process was overseen by the IPL Governing Council as well as the BCCI top officials like president Sourav Ganguly, secretary Jay Shah, treasurer Arun Dhumal, vice-president Rajeev Shukla and joint-secretary Jayesh George.

Now after acquiring the teams, both the parties will need to pay the entire amount over a period of 10 years.

Earlier, the Adani Group was considered to be a front-runner in acquiring a team however, they eventually opted out of the bidding war after their last call of Rs 5000 crore. On the other hand, Torrent, Manchester United’s owner, Aurobindo Pharma and other players didn’t even came close to the Rs 5000 crore-mark.

These new franchises – Ahmedabad and Lucknow – will now be a part of the 15th edition of the lucrative league, taking the total number of teams to 10 from eight.

The next edition of IPL is likley to be staged in the March-April window and a mega auction for it will most probably be held in December this year or January, 2022.

Last week, discussions on the issue of retention of players took place between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the eight franchise owners following which it was decided that a franchise can retain up to three Indian players and two overseas players with the overall count for retained players not crossing four.

Meanwhile, the player purse will be Rs 90 crore and in the subsequent two years, there will be an incremental hike and the purse will go up to Rs 95 crore and Rs 100 crore.

Earlier, a total of 22 entities had bought the Invitation to Tender (ITT) document from the BCCI, price of which was kept at Rs 10 lakh each.

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2 new teams for IPL triggers bidding war; valuation breaches Rs 8,000 crore-mark

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The onngoing auctions, currently underway in Dubai, has triggered a bidding war between the interested parties and as per reports, the valuation of one of the two teams has already crossed Rs 8,000 crore mark.

Notably, the base price of each team was kept at Rs 2,000 crore by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

As per reports received from the auctions, the two favourites for acquiring the two new IPL teams are the Adani and the Manchester United’s Glazer family.

While Adani is most likley to get the Ahmedabad franchise, the Glazer family is all set to grab Lucknow.

There was a tought fight between the Adani Group, the Glazer family and the RP Sanjeev Goenka Group, who is one of the owners of Indian Super League (ISL) side ATK-Mohun Bagan.

After the auctions got underway with the bids being submitted and the verification process done by the BCCI, All Cargo Logistics, Adani Group, RP Sanjiv Goenka, Uday Kotak were the four parties whose bids were approved after technical evaluation along with couple of other companies.

As of now, the financial bids have not yet been opened and its results are expected after few hours.

Last week, the Glazer family, which owns many sports properties including the famous football club Manchester United and also owns the famous American football club Tampa Bay Buccaneers which features in the National Football League (NFL), had shown interest in owning an IPL franchise as it has picked up the bid documents for the new teams.

The Glazer family had picked up the Invitation to Tender (ITT) document from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the purchase of one of the two new franchises.

Significantly, the deadline for the sale of ITT, the INR 10 lakh document, was on October 10 however, with the Glazer family keen to join the IPL bandwagon, the BCCI had later extended the date for the sale of the new franchise till October 20.

Earlier, the board had clarified that any bids below the minimum amount of Rs 2000 crore will be directly rejected and no reduction will be made to the minimum bid amount even in the event of a change in the format of the league.

After this auction, the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) will be expanded to a 10-team event from its next edition.

Meanwhile, the number of matches in the lucrative league will also rise to 74 next year from the present 60 matches.