Five-time IPL champs Mumbai Indians owners want to provide 'best cricketing experience' in CSA T20 League

Mumbai Indians' owner bought the Newlands franchise of the league which is scheduled to get underway in January next year.

Mumbai Indians owners Akash Ambani and Nita Ambani

Strengthening its growing international footprint in cricket, Reliance Industries, who are the owners of the Indian Premier League franchise Mumbai Indians, announced that it will acquire a franchise in Cricket South Africa’s upcoming T20 league. Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) bought the Newlands franchise of the league which is scheduled to get underway in January next year. Based in Cape Town the new franchise will take forward the Mumbai Indians brand and comes close on the heels of acquiring the UAE-based International League T-20 team.

Interestingly, Reliance Industries has played a crucial role in evolving the sports ecosystem through ownership of cricket franchises, football league in India, sports sponsorship, consultancy, and athlete talent management, and bringing in industry best practices. 

Further, Reliance Foundation Sports – the CSR wing of RIL has been leading India's Olympic Movement by providing opportunities to athletes across the country to become champions in multiple sports and also leading India's charge in hosting global sporting events. Earlier this year, Mrs. Ambani led a successful bid to host the prestigious International Olympic Committee Session in Mumbai in 2023 after a gap of 40 years. 

#OneFamily is now bigger 

Read more to know about Reliance Industries' acquisition of a franchise in @OfficialCSA's T20 league https://t.co/jD6mVMVTHd

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) July 20, 2022

Mrs. Nita Ambani, director of Reliance Industries, “I’m delighted to welcome our new T20 team to the Reliance family! We are excited to take the Mumbai Indians’ brand of fearless and entertaining cricket to South Africa, a nation that loves cricket as much as we do in India! South Africa has a strong sporting ecosystem, and we look forward to exploring the power and potential of this collaboration. As we grow MI's global cricketing footprint, we remain committed to spreading joy and cheer through sport!” 

Mr. Akash Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Jio said, “With our South African franchise, we now have three T20 teams across three countries. We look forward to leveraging our expertise and depth of knowledge in the cricket ecosystem & brand Mumbai Indians to help build the team and provide fans with some of the best cricketing experiences.” 

Meanwhile, Cricket South Africa has announced a six-team franchise-based T20 competition, with the inaugural tournament scheduled to be played in January 2023. The tournament will feature six teams, who will play each other twice in a round-robin stage before the top three proceed to the playoffs with 33 matches to be played over three to four weeks.