The Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises have bought all six teams in Cricket South Africa’s upcoming new T20 league, the inaugural edition of which is scheduled to start from January 2023.
Reliance Industries Limited, the owners of Mumbai Indians, RPSG Sports Private Limited, who owns Lucknow Super Giants, Sun TV Network Limited, the owners of Sunrisers Hyderabad, Chennai Super Kings Cricket Limited, Royals Sports Group and JSW Sports, the owners of Delhi Capitals won the bids for the six franchises.
“The six franchise owners for South Africa’s T20 League have been confirmed following a rigorous process over the past few months,” Cricket South Africa said in its release.
“The open bid process, managed by Deloitte Corporate Finance, attracted over 29 entities who expressed interest in owning a franchise worldwide. Over 10 venues were made available for interested bidders to own a franchise and all 10 of them received expressions of interest,” the statement added.
Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, the two most successful IPL franchises, have got the teams based in Cape Town and Johannesburg, respectively. Delhi Capitals will have a team based on Centurion in Pretoria.
Sanjiv Goenka, the owner of Lucknow is set to have its team based in Durban while Sunrisers Hyderabad will have its team in Port Elizabeth, while the Rajasthan Royals will have the team based in Paarl.
“We are thrilled to welcome our new franchise owners to the South African League taking place in January and February 2023. This is truly an exciting time for South African cricket; the overwhelming interest shows that the country remains valued in the global cricketing eco-system,” the league’s commissioner Graeme Smith was quoted as saying.
The former South African captain further shed light on the process carried while selecting the final teams.
“A robust bidding process was followed to select the final six owners, the decision was informed by a scorecard based on various criteria to ensure the utmost professionalism, independence, and objectivity to the process. I would like to thank Deloitte as our advisors for doing a thoroughly professional job in helping South African cricket find partners who add substantial value to our game,” Smith added.
