RPS owner Sanjiv Goenka rejects rumours of buying stakes in Rajasthan Royals

Rising Pune Supergiant owner Sanjiv Goenka rejected all speculations of having bought stakes in Raj Kundra-owned franchise Rajasthan Royals. Rising Pune Supergiant and Gujarat Lions were introduced in the IPL for only two years, to fill the shoes of ‘temporarily banned’ teams Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals.

IPL administrators had made their intentions very clear to everyone by saying that there is no chance of extension in participation for the two new sides. After this announcement, speculations were flying that the Kolkata-based famous industrialist Sanjiv Goenka has bought shares at Rajasthan Royals.

IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla told the media that Pune and Gujarat have to go through a completely fresh bidding process to get a chance to feature in the eleventh edition of the annual cricket fiesta de extravaganza. When asked about the truth, Goenka was agitated and retorted by saying “What kind of a statement is that. The answer is ‘no’. “You are trying to create a controversy here”.

When asked about the truth about him buying stakes at Rajasthan Royals, Goenka was agitated and retorted by saying “What kind of a statement is that. The answer is ‘no’. “You are trying to create a controversy here”.

Having said this, Goenka has not rejected the chances of him buying a team next year completely. When asked about whether he will participate in next year’s bidding process or not, he said “Maybe”.

Tennis legend Mahesh Bhupathi also spoke in favour of the businessman. At the launch event of Boria Majumdar’s book ‘A History of Indian Sports Through 100 Artefacts’, he said “He owns another team. Why are you putting him in a position like this in front of the media? You are just trying to create any controversy”

Goenka further said that corporate should get in sports in an even larger way. He was of the opinion that “Time has come for corporates to get involved in a larger way in sport. It’s quite apart from the mileage, it’s a responsibility to help younger people, build academies, this is very important.”

Goenka is also the owner of ISL franchise Atletico de Kolkata, and his team in IPL is in a really good position this year. Regarding sharing experiences with the legends of the game like MS Dhoni, he said “Honestly, it’s about dealing with great minds, personalities, understanding leadership strategies. Interacting with Dhoni, Smith, Faf, it’s been an eye-opener”.

With Pune’s superb performance in this year’s IPL, we might get to see Sanjiv Goenka as the owner of a franchise next year too.