Sachin-Rafa combo set to delight Indian fans as Sachin Tendulkar buys Mumbai franchise in IPTL

Former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar

After associating himself with the ISL (Indian Super League) football tournament last week, Sachin Tendulkar has now turned his attention to the IPTL (International Premier Tennis League).

The Indian cricketing icon has bought the Mumbai franchise of the league in joint collaboration with the PVP Group – a Tamil Nadu based media company who are working mutually with Sachin for the betterment of the nation’s sports.

“Partnering a legend like Sachin is a privilege. For the past couple of years, our focus has been to aggressively grow our sports business. To do this, we have invested in the Hyderabad team in the Indian Badminton League and the Indian franchise for the IPTL, apart from the football team,” said Prasad Potluri, who is the Managing Director and Chairman of the PVP Group.

It is no secret that Tendulkar has always been a tennis fan, and particularly a fan of Roger Federer, as evident from his cheers for the Swiss player on several occasions at Wimbledon. But this time he will be backing Federer’s rival Rafael Nadal, as the ‘King of clay’ has been confirmed as the marquee signing for the Mumbaikars. The Spaniard will earn somewhere close to a million US dollars for each game, and with the ‘Master Blaster’ in his corner, opponent teams would do well to start preparing their game plans already.

The IPTL is a concept that originated in the mind of Indian tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi. He co-founded the tournament along with former World No. 1 and German legend Boris Becker, who has repeatedly stressed that tennis needs an event like the IPTL.

“This is something that tennis needs. Back in my time we would have loved to have a series of tournaments in Asia, where the demand for world class tennis as an entertainment concept merges with the needs and wishes of millions of fans,” Becker said.

The tournament, which is scheduled to begin on 28th of November, has confirmed the participation of four franchises – Mumbai, Bangkok, Singapore and Dubai. Bhupathi, who has been travelling all over the place to promote the league, gave his thoughts on the subject.

“We have been working relentlessly to formulate and deliver a concept that not only meets global expectations of excellence, but also provides quality tennis coupled with entertainment for fans,” he said.

Tendulkar and Nadal’s involvement has grabbed the spotlight and illuminated the tournament’s image. But the league will also host some of the biggest international players in the game including Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, 17-Slam owner Serena Williams, two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka and former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, among others.

Tendulkar displayed his support for the game of football earlier when he joined hands with PVP Group to jointly own the Kochi franchise in the ISL. Although he has retired, his contributions towards the domestic scenario have been quite impactful.

“I will always remain a sportsman at heart who is keen to positively impact the sporting fabric of the nation,” he said.