The Indian Premier League extended the number of teams in the tournament from eight to ten ahead of the 2022 season. The bidding process for the two new teams took place in October 2021. CVC, a global private equity fund, bought one franchise for Rs 5625 crore, while the second one was bought was RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group for a mammoth sum of Rs 7090 crore at the bidding war.
The massive amount paid by the RPSG Group to acquire a team stunned the cricket fraternity. Around four years after the buy, team’s owner Sanjiv Goenka has opened up on the bold move.
Notably, the RPSG Group also has its stake in The Hundred franchise Manchester Originals. Goenka’s statement came when he informed that Manchester Originals will include the ‘Super Giants’ into their name for future seasons of the tournament.
“When I invested 900m dollar to buy an IPL team, the entire world thought I was mad,” Goenka told BBC Sport.
“In the space of three and a half years, (it) is probably worth 1.5 billion dollar. The IPL is a league like no other but The Hundred…can only grow and we do believe that it will grow hugely.
“It’s about building an emotional connection with not only the sport, but the format and more importantly the team. It doesn’t happen overnight. The IPL has taken 18 years to reach where it is.”
After buying the franchise for a whopping sum at the IPL auction, the RPSG Group later named the Lucknow franchise as Lucknow Super Giants.
It turned out to be a superb first two seasons for LSG in IPL as the side made it to the playoffs on both the occasions. However, a dip in performance was observed in the next two seasons.
LSG finished at the 7th spot in IPL 2024 and 2025, with their worst performance being this year as they ended up with 12 points, the lowest ever in their four-season old career.