IPL owners purchase all 6 teams in South Africa's new T20 league; MI, CSK make highest bid

Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise owners are all set to buy all six teams of South Africa’s new T20 league, which is scheduled to commence in January 2023. As reported by ESPN Cricinfo on Tuesday, the owners of the Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Lucknow Super Giants, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Rajasthan Royals, alongside one of the owners of Delhi Capitals, have put successful bids to acquire the franchises. The report also states that CSK, through its parent company Chennai Super Kings Sports Limited, made the highest bid in the informal auction to buy the Johannesburg franchise.

Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians, which is owned by Reliance Industries, are understood to be one of the highest bidders to buy the Cape Town franchise. The Sun TV Group, which owns the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) franchise, have bought the likes of the Gqeberha franchise. The RP Sanjeev Goenka group has also bought the Durban-based team, after buying the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) franchise last year for a record sum of Rs 7090 crore. 

In the meantime, Rajasthan Royals have bought the Paarl franchise, while the co-owner of Delhi Capitals (DC), Parth Jindal led the Jindal South West Sports to acquire the Pretoria-based team. Cricket South Africa (CSA) is now expected to make a formal announcement of the new owners and the cities, once all the paperwork is complete. It is pertinent to mention here that former Proteas skipper Graeme Smith has been announced as the overall head of the T20 league.

'Excited by the opportunity to deliver the new league,' says Graeme Smith

Smith will have the job to ensure that the deals with franchise owners are watertight. As per ESPN Cricinfo, Smith recently revealed his thoughts on being handed the responsibility and said, “I'm extremely honoured to be entrusted with leading this exciting new venture”. He also mentioned that he is deeply committed to the future of South African cricket and will look to serve the game to his best.

“I'm excited by the opportunity to deliver the new league, which I believe will be an extremely competitive product, one that can bring the much-needed investment into the game and provide new opportunities for players around the world and more importantly to our SA homegrown talent,” Smith added. The new T20 league will be CSA’s third attempt at organizing a successful and sustainable franchise-based T20 league, following the failures of the  Global League T20 and Mzansi Super League.

(Image: iplt20.com/BCCI)