Reports: Shah Rukh Khan, Mumbai Indians buy teams in the Emirates T20 League

Shah Rukh Khan and five-time Indian Premier League champions, Mumbai Indians, have bought franchises in the Emirates Cricket Board’s newly launched T20 League. Shah Rukh is also associated with the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL and the Trinbago Knight Riders in the CPL.

Kiran Kumar Grandhi of Delhi Capitals, financial services company Capri Global and Sydney Sixers, a team in Australia’s Big Bash League, are also part of the tournament. If reports are to be believed, four-time IPL winners Chennai Super Kings were also in the race to buy a team, but they backed out.

“January’s a great time to play cricket in the UAE. The destination caters to multiple time zones, especially in the west. It suits prime-time in the Indian sub-continent very well, as we’ve seen during the last two IPLs and the recent T20 World Cup that were played there,” industry executives, privy to the developments, were quoted as saying in TOI.

The Glazer Family, the owner of the English Premier League team Manchester United, have also bought a team. Interestingly, they also bid for the two new IPL teams from Ahmedabad and Lucknow, but couldn’t come out trumps.

RPSG Ventures Ltd, and Irelia Company Pte Ltd bought Lucknow and Ahmedabad for INR 7090 crores and INR 5625 crores respectively.

Emirates T20 League to take place in January-February

Back in August, the Emirates Cricket Board launched the T20 tournament, named Premier League T20 (PL T20), to be played in January-February. Six teams are set to take part in the league. The ECB also launched the logo of the tournament, which depicted UAE’s national symbol – a Falcon.

“UAE’s Inaugural Premier League T20 will be played across UAE in January and February 2022. The new six-team franchise-style league has been sanctioned by Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence and Emirates Cricket Board Chairman Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan,” the ECB said in a statement.

“The hallmark of the new league is that it will have the highest number of international players in a squad. This unique aspect of the league will attract some of the biggest names in world cricket while also giving a platform and international exposure to upcoming players,” the statement added.