Who is the Gujarat Titans Owner?

Overseas equity firm CVC Capital Partners are the Gujarat Titans owner after they had sealed the deal with an INR 5,625 crore bid.

The major talking point ahead of the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League was including the new Ahmedabad IPL team and Lucknow franchise. For the first time since 2011, the league had included 10 teams to compete in it.

In October 2021, the BCCI invited investors from across the globe to partake in the auction for these two franchises. And while the RPSG Group, formerly the owners of the Rising Pune Supergiant, sealed the deal with a staggering INR 7,090 crore bid for the Lucknow franchise, the Gujarat Titans owner CVC Capital Partners.

Gujarat Titans Owner – CVC Capital Partners

Gujarat Titans owner CVC Capital Partners are a British private equity and investment firm, whose total assets are worth over $75 billion. CVC Capital Partners’ foundation stones were laid by the popular banking firm Citicorp, which wanted to establish an investment firm. Although Citicorp’s venture capital investments started in 1968, CVC Capital Partners as a separate entity was formed in 1981. 

Over the years, it became one of the biggest investment firms in Europe and expanded its wings in Asia as well. Some notable names take shelter under the CVC group, including popular IT security company “Avast”, luxury watch-makers Breitling SA, one of Britain’s leading automobile companies “RAC” and pet supplies retail chain “Petco”. 

They seemed adamant to be involved with the Indian Premier League once the BCCI opened tenders, and made an INR 5,625 crore bid to seal the deal. However, a major stumbling block needed to be cleared before the Ahmedabad franchise could start any of its early operations. 

Tipico, a world-renowned sports betting and gambling organization, is a CVC Capital Partners portfolio company. The objection was primarily raised on social media by former IPL chairman Lalit Modi, who pointed out that one of the bidders has a major investment in a betting company, which was bound to raise a conflict of interest considering the history of this tournament. 

The private equity firm was given time to provide an explanation by the BCCI and they, later on, confirmed that Tipico is a part of the CVC group’s European wing, and will remain totally independent and disconnected from CVC’s Asian wing, which made the investment on Gujarat Titans. The BCCI deemed their participation valid after a thorough investigation and they announced the team name just a few days before the auction. 

History of Gujarat Titans

This isn’t the first time the state of Gujarat has seen an IPL representation. However, the previously involved team, Gujarat Lions, came in as a replacement for just two years when Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were suspended for two years. The franchise was based out of Rajkot, and is currently defunct. 

Just the way it happened in the case of Deccan Chargers and Sunrisers Hyderabad, both these franchises will have no link to each other and any of the Rajkot-based franchise’s records will not be added to the Gujarat Titans. 

Gujarat Titans Team Players 2022

Once the franchise was allowed to commence its operations, they confirmed Ashish Nehra as the head coach and Vikram Solanki as the Director of Cricket. Former Indian head coach Gary Kirsten, who led the side to a World Cup triumph in 2011, has been appointed batting coach and mentor for the franchise. 

They signed up local star Hardik Pandya as their first major signing, and gobbled up two other brilliant players later on. Young Indian opener Shubman Gill, and the global T20 icon Rashid Khan, were Gujarat’s other two drafts before they entered the auction. They were off to a solid start with these acquisitions and picked up some good players in the auction as well. 

They acquired the services of talismanic Indian seam bowler Mohammed Shami for a bargain price, and also garnered the services of some noteworthy names like Matthew Wade, Lockie Ferguson, David Miller, Vijay Shankar and a host of amazing young Indian talents like Darshan Nalkande, Abhinav Sadrangani, R Sai Kishore and others. 

English opener Jason Roy backed out from the tournament citing bubble fatigue as a major issue and Afghan cricketer Rahmanullah Gurbaz has been drafted as a replacement for him.

Batters – Shubman Gill, David Miller, Vijay Shankar, Abhinav Sadrangani, Sai Sudarshan

Wicket-keepers – Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade

All-rounders – Rahul Tewatia, Jayant Yadav, Gurkeerat Singh, Dominic Drakes, Hardik Pandya (C)

Bowlers – Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmed, Sai Kishore, Mohammed Shami, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Aaron, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Pradeep Sangwan

Having some of the prominent names of the Indian Premier League, Gujarat Titans owner will be hoping for a strong season from the new franchise.

Gujarat Titans Schedule 2023

The franchise will be playing its first-ever game in the IPL against the other new arrivals in Lucknow Super Giants on 28^th March, 2022. As per the latest new schedule module, Gujarat Titans have been pitted in Group B, which means they’ll face the Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Punjab Kings and Lucknow Super Giants two times, whilst they will play just one game Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals. 

Their final group game will be played against Royal Challengers Bangalore on May 19^th and by that time, they will be hoping to secure their qualification in the playoffs. 

Here’s the schedule for Gujarat Titans in IPL 2023: 

Also Read: Who is Rajasthan Royals Captain for IPL 2022? – A Brief History