Adani Group enters in UAE T20 League as franchise owner

Adani Group, an Indian multinational company, has marked their entry into the cricketing industry, acquiring the rights to own a team in an upcoming franchise-based competition - UAE T20 League.

The Ahmedabad-based conglomerate has Adani Sportsline as its subsidiary and has come on board to book a franchise in the League licensed by Emirates Cricket Board (ECB).

Besides Adani Group, four other prominent names in the business field have already become a part of the ECB's brainchild. Lancer Capital, the owners of Manchester United Football Club; Reliance Industries, owner of Mumbai Indians; GMR Group, co-owner of Delhi Capitals and Capri Global, a non-banking financial company, are the other major stakeholders so far.

After the announcement, the managing director of Adani Enterprises Limited, Pranav Adani, said: 

"We are excited to be part of the UAE T20 league. The UAE is an amazing amalgamation of several cricket-loving nations. It provides an excellent platform for enhancing the visibility of cricket as the sport goes increasingly global."

Mubashshir Usmani, the general secretary of the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB), expressed his delight at the association between the Adani Group and the UAE T20 league. He hoped that their collaboration would benefit both parties.

"This is a resounding thumbs up to the unique opportunity that the UAE T20 league offers to experienced and established business owners. We are confident that this association will be mutually beneficial for both the Adani Group and the League. UAE's T20 League will attract some of the biggest names in world cricket while also giving a platform and international exposure to local and upcoming players."

Notably, the Adanis had earlier entered the race to own one of the two newly-formed IPL franchises. They raised a bid of Rs 5,100 crores but were beaten by RPSG Ventures Ltd and CVC Capital Partners, who bid Rs 7,090 and Rs 5,625 crores, respectively.

As per the earlier plan, the UAE T20 League was set to run from February to March. But now the talks are on to schedule it in June (as reported by ESPNcricinfo).