The Indian Premier League has returned and the auction for buying players took place in Bangalore on Wednesday 12th February 2014. All the teams were present and a feisty round of bidding ensued. Cricket is the number one spectator sport in India and the usual cricket and Bollywood bandwagon were present in full force.
Mumbai Indians’ owner Nita Ambani reiterated that there was no lack of interest in the auction because of the controversies following the Mudgal panel report. “Inside the auction room all the teams are glued in and doing their best to get the right combinations. We are really concentrating on the aspect of building our new team for IPL 7 season,” she said.
For Mumbai Indians though, this will be akin to year zero. They line up for the first time without legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar. Mumbai Indians’ owner Nita Ambani stated that there was no lack of interest in the auction. After an eventful day at the auction she was quoted as saying, “We had a long day building our team around our five core players that we’ve retained, lot of stressful tense moments, but I’m happy at the end of the day.”
However, most of the shutterbugs turned their eyes towards Mukesh and Nita Ambani’s elder son, Akash – the co-owner of Mumbai Indians. A dapper looking Akash added a lot of glamour and glitz to the IPL auction. He was seen strategizing with the management of Mumbai Indians as the team bid aggressively for some of the best players in the world. A person close to the Ambani family said, “This is training ground before he takes up a bigger role at Reliance. He is learning the tricks of team management. Viewers of the IPL have seen more of his brother Anant at the Mumbai team’s matches, as Akash was studying at Brown University. He graduated with a degree in economics and is back in India.
Akash is slowly learning the ropes of the trade as he seeks to follow in his father’s footsteps and enter Reliance Industries Limited. Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, Dhirubhai Ambani, the Ambani scion has taken a key interest in the business side of things. He is a stake holder in the Indian Premier League team, Mumbai Indians and has accompanied his father to many business meetings. Akash Ambani was present when RIL signed the $7.2 billion with BPin London.