The owners of the IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have now acquired another franchise in a different T20 league, as the Knight Riders Group has acquired the rights to own and operate the Abu Dhabi franchise in the UAE T20 league.

The Knight Riders group, which is led by Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan with Juhi Chawla and her husband Jay Mehta as co-owners, has already acquired Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), made investments in Major League Cricket (MLC) in the USA and has shown interest to set up a franchise in the greater Los Angeles area.

IPL 2022: ‘He might not be there next year’- Aakash Chopra on Ravindra Jadeja's future in CSK

In a statement released by the UAE’s T20 League, Shah Rukh Khan has said, “For several years now, we have been expanding the Knight Riders brand globally and closely watching the potential for T20 cricket in the UAE. We are excited about becoming part of UAE’s T20 League, which no doubt will become hugely successful.”

While the UAE T20 League chairman said, “The commitment to grow the T20 format and the expertise gathered by the Knight Riders Group, through their involvement in franchise cricket across the world, is undisputed. We are exceptionally pleased with their foresight to join forces with the UAE’s T20 League and firmly believe it will elevate the reputation, and professionalism of the League throughout the cricket community.”

The UAE’s T20 League is a professional franchise-based T20 format cricket tournament with 6 franchise teams competing in a 34-match event.

(Indian Express inputs)