Dubai: If Bollywood is conspicuous by its presence among the franchise owners of the Indian Premier League (IPL), things may change when the bidding for two new teams for the fourth edition of the IPL concludes on March 8.
Mohanlal, legendary Malayalam actor, and director Priyadarshan are believed to be throwing in their lot behind one of the teams to be spearheaded by a leading financial company from South India.
As the deadline for submission of tenders for the bid ended yesterday, a top official of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said that they have got a good response, but refused to elaborate.
"About seven to eight tenders have been received," Niranjan Shah, one of the vice-chairmen of IPL, told Gulf News over the phone. This, despite the IPL fixing the base price for the teams at $225 million (Dh825.75 million), an almost five-fold jump from the first auction that took place in 2008.
The names of Mohanlal and Priyadarshan have been linked with a possible bid by a major financial services company.
According to a well-placed source, the two film personalities may pick up 10-15 per cent stakes in the venture, in which the flagship group will hold a substantial stake along with some investors from West Asia. The going will, however, not be easy for the consortium as sources confirm that a number of leading Indian corporates, including Sahara — current sponsors of the Indian cricket teams — are in the fray.
Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the London-based guardian of cricket laws, is also said to be pitching in with a consortium for one of the teams.
"If a base price of $225 million was being considered outrageous a few months back, chances are that it may even hit the $400 million mark when the bidding opens in Mumbai on Monday," the sources added.
With eight major Indian cities, including the four metros of Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai, already having teams, there is a much interest about which two cities will be added to this elite list.
The IPL has shortlisted 12 cities where the two teams could be based: Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Kanpur, Dharamshala, Indore, Cuttack, Gwalior, Vishakapatnam, Rajkot, Pune, Baroda and Kochi.
