IPL: Chettinad Cement looking to go one-up on India Cements with Chennai team bid
India Cements' competitor Chettinad Cement is among the 21 corporates and large business houses, who will be bidding for the two new Indian Premier League (IPL) teams in the auction to be held in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Back in 2008, Indian Cements bought the rights for Chennai Super Kings for $91 million, and now their rivals Chettinad Cement are eying to bid for a Chennai-based team in next season's IPL.
BCCI will hold the auction for two new IPL teams on Tuesday, and Chettinad Cement is one of the 21 corporate houses who have bought the bid document for this auction.
"Chettinad Group has shown interest and we are told that they are the competitors of the Indian Cements in Chennai,
"There are 21 corporates and large business houses which have bought bid documents. Now buying bid documents doesn't necessarily mean participating in the bid," an unnamed BCCI official was quoted as saying by Times of India.
According to TOI, Star India are also part of the list of potential bidders. Star Sports, apart from being the official broadcaster of India's home games, along with matches in Australia, England and ICC tournaments, also owns stakes in the Indian Super League (ISL) and the Pro Kabaddi League.
With Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals returning after two years, the IPL will eventually become a 10-team event in 2018. Although reports suggest that Chettinad Cements is looking to buy a team in Chennai, BCCI is expected to favor one of the other locations to avoid a scenario of two teams in the same city when CSK returns in 2018.