Another Indian Premier League (IPL) owner has bagged a stake in The Hundred. After Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) won the race for Oval Invincibles a few days back, Sanji Goenka’s RPSG Group who own Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have bagged a stake in Manchester Originals.
RPSG Group have been heavily interested in buying a stake in The Hundred. In fact, they were tipped to bag rights in the Lord’s-based team, London Spirit. However, they were eventually the losing bidders as a Silicon Valley tech consortium ran away with a winning bid of £295 million.
According to ESPNCricinfo, RPSG have claimed a stake in Manchester Originals for around £116 million. Goenka and the rest of the staff at RPSG will now work in collaboration with the Lancashire club over the next eight weeks or so to draft out the exact nature of the deal.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) are currently in the process of auctioning 49% stakes for all the teams in The Hundred. So far, Oval Invincibles, Birmingham Phoenix, London Spirit, Welsh Fire and Manchester Originals have gone under the hammer and found buyers.
A USA-based hedge fund Knighthead Capital bought the 49% rights in Birmingham Phoenix while Meanwhile, Welsh Fire were bagged by the owners of Washington Freedom (a USA-based tech entrepreneur named Sanjay Govil).
Among the remaining three teams (Trent Rockets, Northern Superchargers and Southern Brave), a couple of them could be bagged by IPL franchises. According to reports on ESPNCricinfo, owners of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) – Sun Group have expressed a keen interest in securing either Trent Rockets or Northern Superchargers. Meanwhile, GMR Group who co-own Delhi Capitals in the IPL bought the county Hampshire last year and hence, they are front-runners to win the stake in Southern Brave.
Lancashire delighted with RPSG’s involvement in Manchester Originals
Lancashire club admitted that their focus was largely on securing a partner, ideally from the IPL. Hence, they are excited about the prospect of collaborating with RPSG and take Manchester Originals forward.
“We have been very focused on securing a great partner – ideally from the IPL – and RPSG has been our preferred bidder for some time. We are delighted by the outcome and look forward to working together to create an exciting future. Together, we have a shared ambition to create a very special cricket team for the people of Manchester and the wider North West region,” the Lancashire club was quoted saying in a statement.
Jos Buttler is the captain of the Manchester Originals. However, he was ruled out of the last season and Phil Salt led the team in the 2024 edition.
