The Emirates Cricket Board’s newly launched T20 League has received a boost with some renowned names investing huge money in it.
Earlier this year, ECB announced their T20 franchise league and named it Premier League T20. The tournament, featuring six teams, will be held in January-February next year.
According to a TOI report, English Premier League giants Manchester United owners - The Glazer family have secured the ownership rights of a team in the Emirates T20 league.
Recently, the Manchester United owners threw their hats into the rings to own the two new IPL franchises – Ahmedabad and Lucknow. However, they failed to win the bid as RPSG Group bought Lucknow with a whopping INR 7090 crores while CVC Capital picked Ahmedabad by spending INR 5625 crores.
Besides the Glazer family, Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, who co-owns IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders, has also reportedly bought a team in the Emirates T20 league.
Shah Rukh has a massive fan-following in the UAE and his involvement in the Premier League T20 will certainly help the competition gain popularity.
“And for Shahrukh, Dubai has always been a second home to him. Brand SRK has been synonymous with this part of the world and it naturally augurs well to have him and his franchise participating in our league," say those working on the property as quoted by Times of India.
Five Time IPL champions Mumbai Indians owners too purchased a team in the Emirates T20 league. Financial services company Capri Global, Kiran Kumar Grandhi of Delhi Capitals and Big Bash League (BBL) club Sydney Sixers also became part of the competition.
“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," say industry executives tracking developments as quoted by Times of India.
As per the report, four-time IPL champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) were also interested in buying a team but they opted out at the last minute.
(With TOI inputs)
