Famous Bollywood actors set to bid for a new IPL team: Report

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has begun major preparations for the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which will see numerous changes from its previous seasons, including the addition of two new teams. The Governing Council of the IPL had confirmed that the two teams would be announced on October 25, a day after the India-Pakistan T20 World Cup clash.

While it was earlier revealed that English football club Manchester United’s owners, the Glazer family, had shown interest in the new teams, it has now been reported that Bollywood actors Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh are all set to bid for one of the new teams. The report also suggests that the couple is likely to partner with the Glazer family to own a team. Other bidders include the Adani Group, RP-Sanjeev Goenka Groups, pharma companies like Torrent Pharma and Aurobindo Pharma. 

“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,” a top official was quoted as saying by a news agency. Besides the addition of two brand new teams, the cash rich league will undergo several other changes in the upcoming season, including a mega auction.

The BCCI will apparently allow all franchises to retain a maximum of four players in their teams ahead of the mega auction which is expected to happen in December this year, and the teams can retain either three Indian players and one overseas player or two Indian players and two overseas players. The salaries of these players would be deducted by the franchises before entering the auction. As two new franchises would be added to the league, the BCCI will increase the purse from 85 crore to 90 crore, meaning an additional 50 crore would be added to the budget of all ten teams.