What marked a turning point in the history of IPL in October last year was the acquisition of the Lucknow Supergiants and Ahmedabad franchises, making the biggest and richest cricket league in the world even bigger and richer.
RP Sanjiv Goenka Group (RPSG), who purchased the rights of Lucknow Supergiants, and CVC Capital Partners (Irelia Company Pte Ltd), who acquired the Ahmedabad franchise, bid a hefty sum of over USD 1.6 billion.
RPSG paid INR 7090 crore (USD 940 million approximately) to buy Lucknow Supergiants while CVC, a private equity fund, bought the Ahmedabad franchise for INR 5625 crore (USD 750 million approximately). They will need to pay out the entire amount over a 10-year period.
Also, this is the second time the RPSG will own an IPL franchise – in 2016 and 2017, they operated that Pune-based Rising Pune Supergiant(s) when Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were suspended for two years.
“It is good be back in the IPL and I am delighted,” RPSG owner Sanjiv Goenka had told ESPNcricinfo after taking home the Lucknow Supergiants. Goenka had then taken a big step by replacing MS Dhoni as the captain after the poor show by the team in 2016. Steve Smith took over in 2017 and led the Pune to the final where they lost to Mumbai Indians.
The RPSG Group is a Kolkata-based conglomerate with interests in a variety of industries. It was founded by Sanjiv Goenka on 13 July 2011 in Kolkata. The Group’s businesses include power and energy, carbon black manufacturing, retail, IT-enabled services, FMCG, media and entertainment, infrastructure and education.
They own Atletico Mohun Bagan in the Indian Super League and have owned teams in table tennis and boxing previously.
Sanjiv Goenka’s net worth is reported to be over INR 20,000 crore and is expected to grow further with the ownership of the Lucknow franchise in the IPL. His wife’s name is Preethi Srinivasan and they have a daughter, Avarna, and a son, Shaswat.
The Lucknow team have decided their first three picks ahead of the mega-auction. They have picked KL Rahul for INR 17 crore, Marcus Stoinis for INR 11 crore, and Ravi Bishnoi for INR 4 crore. It is learned that Rahul will also captain the franchise. And hence will go in the February auction with a purse of INR 60 crore.
With regards to their coaching team, the franchise had earlier appointed Andy Flower as their head coach and Vijay Dahia as assistant coach. Gautam Gambhir has been roped in as the mentor.
The names of both the new franchises have not been announced yet.
