The much-anticipated Indian Street Premier League (ISPL) got a step closer to its ultimate fruition as the co-owners and ₹1,165 crore bid price of the six teams were revealed at a gala function at the Mumbai Cricket Association, Bandra-Kurla Complex.
India's first ever tennis ball T10 cricket tournament will be played from March 6 to 15. All 19 matches will be played in a stadium in the city.
The Mumbai team, which is owned by Bollywood screen legend Amitabh Bachchan, will have Neeti Agrawal of Path Limited as its co-owner with a winning bid of Rs 205.6 crore.
Sachin Tendulkar recalls his tennis-ball cricket days
The ceremony was headlined by the attendance of Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar, who spoke with a sense of nostalgia about his transition from tennis ball cricket on the streets to hard ball.
"I remember we used to play in Sahitya Sahwas and we had to make sure that we played straight drives in order to not hit the window panes on either side of the street. That is how my straight drive developed at a very young age," Tendulkar said.
"Playing games at Shivaji Park and then going and playing at Wankhede Stadium for the first time, it was an amazing transformation for me. I used to initially play with older people who were my brother's age or even older and compete with them and assess myself," he added.
The franchise with the highest bid was Srinagar with Rs 251 crore, and it will be owned by Bollywood star Akshay Kumar with SG Sports Private Limited's Sanjay Gupta and Rohan Gupta as the co-owners.
Bengaluru, owned by heartthrob Hrithik Roshan, will be co-owned by Venkat K Narayana of KVN Enterprises LLP after a winning bid of Rs 225 crore.
The team from the City of Pearls, Hyderabad, which will be owned by Telugu superstar Ram Charan will have Irfan Razack of INR Holdings as the co-owner at a successful bid price of Rs 200 crore.
The Chennai team, owned by Tamil star Surya, would be co-owned by Rajdipkumar Gupta and Sandipkumar Gupta for a price of Rs 163.6 crore.
Kolkata will be owned by Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor and co-owned by Aksha Kamboj's Aspect Global Ventures Pvt Limited for a price of Rs 120 crore.
The ISPL Core Committee members including Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) President Amol Kale, BCCI Treasurer Ashish Shelar and the ISPL Commissioner Suraj Samat graced the occasion as well.
"It is our privilege to welcome the co-owners to the ISPL family. I am sure that they will treasure the journey as we together transform the game of T10 cricket in India and take it to new heights,'' Shelar stated.
"The enthusiastic response to the 'Invitation to Bid' has given us the confidence that the unique format of the ISPL T10 League, which brings together sports and entertainment, will attract a huge audience. We look forward to the new co-owners contributing to the success of the league."
