Kolkata Knight Riders’ ownership group have expressed an interest to invest in England’s new league The Hundred, The Telegraph reported on Tuesday.
KKR owners have previously invested in the Caribbean Premier League, when they purchased Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel, who are now known as Trinbago Knight Riders.
The Hundred has been delayed at least until 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic, the board’s cricket chiefs announced on Thursday. The new 100-balls-per-side format, to be played by eight franchises rather than the established 18 first-class counties, had been due to start in July.
According to the report, private investment in The Hundred was not entertained when the idea of the new tournament was first conceived but the financial issues caused by Covid-19 pandemic is leading to a re-evaluation in the England and Wales Cricket Board’s stance, Tom Harrison, chief executive of the ECB had said.
Two-time IPL champion s KKR are owned by a group that includes Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, and are reportedly one of a number of parties known to be interested in investing in the new event.
“We are perhaps the only genuine global brand in cricket and our strategy has always been to look at opportunities to invest in cricket globally,” Venky Mysore, the chief executive of Kolkata Knight Riders was quoted as saying by the Telegraph.
“All leagues around the world understand the value that Knight Riders bring to any league and to that extent we will surely be keen to explore [investment opportunities]. I think leagues are also realising the value of having investors such as us who bring our brand, professional management, marketing ideas and huge fan base,” he added.
With the English season delayed until at least July 1 and any matches after that likely to be played behind closed doors, ECB has decided to hold the Hundred over until next year.
“The situation we find ourselves in as a country means that delivery of the Hundred will not be possible this summer,” Harrison had said in a statement.
“Whilst we are naturally disappointed that we won’t get to realise our ambitions this year, the Hundred will go ahead in 2021 when we are safely able to deliver everything we intended to help grow the game.”
The ECB’s statement stressed that an event with no fans “directly contradicts the competition’s goal to attract a broader audience.”
Global travel restrictions also mean it is not possible for star players from other countries to take part.
Even before the pandemic, the ECB had itself forecast the Hundred would make a loss in its first five seasons. Costs in the first year, including the £1.3 million ($1.6 million) paid to each county, were estimated at £58 million, against an income of £51 million.
But Harrison, one of the prime movers behind the Hundred, said Thursday: “As we emerge from the fallout of Covid-19, there will be an even greater need for the Hundred. Our survival as a game, long-term, will be dependent on our ability to recover financially and continue our ambition to build on cricket’s growing fan base. That need has not gone anyway, if anything, it is now more critical.”
(With AFP inputs)