Virat Kohli “thrilled” after his IPL franchise RCB wins a bid for Women’s IPL Team (WPL): A couple of hours ago, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) scripted history as it saw a windfall of a whopping INR 4669.99 Crores from the Women’s Premier League – the official name coined by the cricket board for Women’s IPL. Five Indian cities will now have their WPL franchise, one of which is with Bengaluru and Virat Kohli, who plays for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) is “thrilled” by the win of his T20 franchise.
Virat Kohli took to his social media handles to celebrate his franchise’s win in the Women’s Premier League (WPL). The celebrated cricketer wrote, “Well played, RCB! So thrilled that my team has won the bid for the Bengaluru Women’s Premier League team. Can’t wait to cheer for our women in Red and Gold.”
Royal Challengers Bangalore Sports Private Limited is among the five entities that have been awarded the WPL franchises. RCB shelled out INR 901 Crores, the third highest bid, to win the Bangaluru-based WPL franchise.
“Breaking barriers, making history, and playing bold! Royal Challengers Bangalore are the proud owners of the Bengaluru Women’s Premier League Team,” wrote RCB while attaching an image of the new logo featuring a pictogram of the female gender sign.
Meanwhile, esteemed businessman Gautam Adani’s sports wing Adani Sportsline Private Limited made the biggest bid of the auction as it splurged INR 1289 Crore to bag the Ahmedabad-based Women’s Premier League (WPL) franchise. Interestingly, the Adani Group had narrowly missed out on the Ahmedabad-based franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL), sometime back.
The other three entities are Indiawin Sports Private Limited, a sports wing of Mukesh Ambani, spend INR 912.99 Crores to get the Mumbai-based WPL franchise. JSW GMR Cricket Private Limited (Delhi Capitals) paid a sum of INR 810 Crores for Delhi based franchise and Capri Global Holdings Private Limited will have the Lucknow-based WPL team after it spent INR 757 Crores.
| Winning bidder | Winning bid | Franchise |
|---|---|---|
| Adani Sportsline Pvt. Ltd | 1289 Crore | Ahmedabad |
| Indiawin Sports Pvt. Ltd (MI) | 912.99 Crore | Mumbai |
| Royal Challengers Sports Pvt. Ltd (RCB) | 901 Crore | Bangalore |
| JSW GMR Cricket Pvt. Ltd (DC) | 810 crore | Delhi |
| Capri Global Holdings Pvt. Ltd | 757 Crore | Lucknow |
Notably, the media rights of the WPL were earlier sold to Viacom18 by the BCCI for INR 951 Crores in a five-year contract. The deal will fetch BCCI INR 7.09 Crores per match during the period of 2023-2027.
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