The fact that getting Mumbai also means a chance for a corporate to associate with Sachin Tendulkar, there has been a buzz in the financial capital on the eve of the announcement. Besides Khan’s production house Red Chillies Entertainment, Reliance Industries (Mukesh Ambani group), the Future Group and Videocon too are in the race to get Mumbai.
Meanwhile, the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani (ADA) Group—that until now was being rumoured to be in the race—has pulled out. “We’re not keen. We had applied but after giving a lot of thought, we pulled out,” a Reliance ADA spokesperson told The Indian Express today.
An IPL source said: “There is a chance that Shah Rukh could bid successfully for more than one team.”
The twelve cities identified, apart from Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai, are New Delhi, Kolkata, Gwalior, Mohali, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Kanpur and Cuttack. The choice of the cities has been based on market forces and therefore it is only logical that metros Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and cities like Bangalore will be prized possessions for the IPL. Among these 12 cities, cities showing the highest value—according to the bids received—will be selected as the eight venues.
The assessment for the bids is expected to begin at 2 pm tomorrow while the announcement will be made a couple of hours later at the BCCI offices in Mumbai.
No clash of interest, says Lalit Modi
IPL commissioner Lalit Modi told The Indian Express on Wednesday evening that he does not foresee any problems as far as clash of players’ commercial interests are concerned. Given that several companies happen to be in the fray, players like Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, who endorse a number of brands, could find themselves in the middle of corporate conflicts. However, Modi said: “If Indian players—while endorsing companies like Reebok and Adidas—can wear Nike on the field, there will be no problem in the IPL either.”
Asked if this being a league where Corporates would be running the show, would make a difference, he said: “We do not see any problem.”
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