Who are the two new Women’s Premier League team owners?

Adani Sportsline

Adani Sportsline is the sports arm of the Ahmedabad based conglomerate, Adani Group. They’ve been trying to get their hands on an IPL team for a while now, and now that they have, they haven’t wasted any time in picking a name: Gujarat Giants.

Adani offered the highest amount of money in the WPL auction – INR 1289 crore (US$ 158 million approx) – and will base his team out of Ahmedabad, which has the Narendra Modi Stadium that can seat over 100,000 people.

They had also bid for one of the two new men’s IPL teams in 2021, when the BCCI expanded the tournament from eight to ten teams, but were not successful.

The Gulf Giants are led by England batsman James Vince and coached by former Zimbabwe captain and England coach Andy Flower. Gujarat Giants was captained by Virender Sehwag and featured big-name players like Chris Gayle, Daniel Vettori and Graeme Swann.

Pranav Adani, director of Adani Enterprises, said in a statement on Wednesday after winning the bid: “The Indian women’s cricket team is performing exceptionally well – and the Women’s Cricket League is committed to creating more opportunities for women through the sport.” An important step in that direction.” , “Cricket is an inseparable part of the fabric of the country and Adani Sportsline was keen to begin its association with the sport with the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League.

Adani Sportsline has ventured into Kabaddi, Boxing and Kho-Kho all with great success under the name of Gujarat Giants. His Kabaddi team was the runner-up in the Pro-Kabaddi League in 2017 and 2018. His boxing team won the Big Bout Boxing League in 2019 with some of India’s top boxers like Amit Panghal. His Kho-Kho team topped the table in the Ultimate Kho-Kho League in 2022 but lost in Qualifier 2.

Capri Global

Capri Global Holdings is part of India-based NBFC (Non-Banking Financial Company) Capri Loans, which on Wednesday shelled out INR 757 crores (92.85 million approx) for the cheapest women’s franchise in WPL. They will be based out of Lucknow, which also has a much newer cricket stadium and can host around 50,000 people.

Capri Global Group, which owns a number of subsidiaries, has a net worth of around Rs 5400 crore (around Rs 700 million) and is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange. He was part of the auction for two new men’s IPL teams a few years ago but was unsuccessful. But despite the setback, Capri continued his efforts to break into the lucrative franchise cricket space.

Rajesh Sharma, Managing Director, Capri Global said, “Capri Global’s association with WPL has been strategic in achieving our vision of encouraging sports at all levels and genders and forging deeper engagement with our stakeholders and customers.” “We believe that given its history in India, cricket is the most natural route to take forward that vision.”

Capri’s kho-kho team, called the Rajasthan Warriors, finished last among six teams in 2022. They also have less presence in Kabaddi as one of the sponsors of Bengal Warriors since last October.