A whole new ball game

They are some of the top names in the two religions that our country follows — Bollywood and cricket. And now they are leveraging their fame and success in one field to hit the jackpot in another.

While recently Bollywood stars like John Abraham, Ranbir Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan, Salman Khan, Varun Dhawan and Sonakshi Sinha have turned sports entrepreneurs by investing in their own teams in the Indian Super League and the Pro Kabaddi League, some of our top cricketers — past and present — have also jumped on the football bandwagon and invested in the Indian Super League.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli have invested in team Chennai and Goa while retired cricketing legends Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly are owners of team Kochi and Kolkata respectively.

‘It’s not about money’

While financial benefits in these ventures cannot be ignored, the stars of film and cricket insist that their main aim is to promote sports among the Indian youth.
John Abraham, who owns ISL team Northeast United FC, says, “I don’t look at owning a team as an investment. There is more to it than just finance. There is a large number of youth whom I want to inspire. One has to take one’s celebrity status to the next level. If I can in any way be instrumental in creating awareness about the importance of sports, I’ll consider myself a winner. We’ve grown up idolising Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Mary Kom and Milkha Singh. Sports have played a vital role in the growth of our country. Be it badminton, football, kabaddi, cricket or hockey, we’re on the verge of taking our passion for sports to the international level. I’m proud to be a small part of the massive contribution.”

Bachchan Jr steps up

Shah Rukh Khan was one of the Bollywood pioneers in sports entrepreneurship with his IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders. And he is all praises for his industry colleagues who have taken a leaf out of his book.

SRK particularly admires Abhishek Bachchan who is the owner of two teams — the Pro-Kabbadi League team Jaipur Pink Panthers and the ISL Chennaiyin FC team, which he co-owns with Dhoni. Speaking of AB, Shah Rukh says, “I would advise everyone in the country to support any new sports, like it has been the case with Abhishek, first with Pro-Kabaddi and now football. Every sport needs to be encouraged. I don’t consider myself as some pioneer but as far as my voice can reach, I want to encourage the youth of this country to become international sportspersons. That can only happen through us and our support.”

Abhishek has been a sports enthusiast all his life and he thought of giving an expression to this passion. “I am an emotional person who takes emotional decisions. I am glad it paid off. Football is my passion, the decision to own a football team was a passionate one, while the decision to own a kabaddi team was an emotional one. I have thoroughly enjoyed the Pro Kabaddi League journey and I am very optimistic about ISL too,” he says.

AB’s team lifted the winners’ trophy. “It is a matter of huge pride. It is a cheap sport but the amount of skill required is immense. Having been a sportsman and a sports enthusiast, it’s very exciting to be part of this endeavour,” he says.  

A new territory

For Sonakshi Sinha too, this is a whole new territory. The actress, who is co-owner of United Singhs in the World Kabaddi League, says, “Owning a kabaddi team was a dream come true for me. My father (Shatrughan Sinha) motivated me. Besides people in India, how many in the world were even aware of kabaddi as a sport? With the reach of television and the credible names attached to it, like Mr Amitabh Bachchan’s, the sport is getting its due. And this is only the beginning.”
For our cricketing superstars too, this is a whole new ball game. Virat Kohli, owner of the football team FC Goa, says his sole motivation was to see football grow in India. “Some might think I am pretty young to do something like this or it is a step taken too early, but nothing is never too early. If you believe in something, you have to put your 100 per cent to it and I decided to do it because I want football to grow in India,” he says. He also hinted that it could well be a retirement plan. “It is also a business venture that I am looking at for the future. Cricket is not going to last forever so whenever I am done, whenever I retire, I am keeping all my options open.”

Drawing a comparison with IPL, Virat adds, “As you have seen in IPL, a lot of people are against it, a lot of people don’t like it but what it has done is that it has given confidence to the younger players playing along with the best in the world, so they have the confidence to go out and perform at that level. This is what ISL is going to do, where you get a chance to play with the legends of the game. You feed off their talent, experience and learn as much as you can from them and your confidence level goes up. Because of this league we will see the level of football going higher. So ISL is a step towards making football a major sport in India and I am all for it.”

Not many know that Virat’s captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, started off as a football goalkeeper. “I started out as a goalkeeper and then shifted to cricket as there was no wicket-keeper in school. This is an opportunity to be associated with football again. I am glad to be a part of Chennaiyin FC. I have had seven brilliant years with CSK (Chennai Super Kings). Our vision will be to win trophies, but more than that to develop talent and help the Indian players to learn under established international players. Grassroots level football and sports in India is lacking and that is something we shall address. Football used to be a popular sport once upon a time and is supported in pockets still. The younger generation, who watch the EPL (English Premier League), La Liga, Champions League etc. will be made aware of something more domestic. This is a platform for making others aware of football. And it’s going to be a win-win situation for everyone involved. All the big people from various industries have given their support to this league. Now we want the support of the common man to make this league a success.”
 
Beating cricket a tough task

ISL team Atelico de Kolkata’s co-owner and former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly feels that no sport in India other than cricket has a guaranteed future in the country.

“I don’t know when we will break even, doesn’t seem so in the near future. There is a possibility we may never break even. Nobody knows what the future has in store for any sport in India, other than cricket. That is why I say this is not just about money. Hopefully, there will be a future in this, my inner feeling is that we will break even but when, I don’t know. It has been very, very tough managing both cricket and football but we have a team which works behind the scenes,” says the ardent football enthusiast and former Indian opener.

Sourav is happy with the flying start his team got after they defeated Ranbir Kapoor’s Mumbai City FC by 3-0 in the opening match. “It was a good performance but there’s still a long way to go in this tournament,” he says.
 
(Inputs from Reena Kapoor and Natasha Coutinho)