Rajasthan Royals To Make Unprecedented Rs. 260 Crore Bid To Buy Yorkshire, Who Sachin Tendulkar Once Played For: Report
Rajastan Royals are set to make an unprecedented bid to buy the English county |courtesy-BCCI
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Rajasthan Royals are set to make a Rs. 260 crore bid to buy the English County
- No English County is fully owned by an Overseas franchise
- RR own teams in the CPL and South African T20 league
According to a report by the Daily Mail, the Royals have offered £25 million (Rs. 250 crore) to Yorkshire in a convertible note that will be later converted into equity. Yorkshire are looking to raise funds in order to pay off a debt of £15 million owed to former chariman Colin Greaves.
The same report adds that former Newcastle Football Club owner Mike Ashley was also in talks with Yorkshire for a possible Moreover, there have been talks about taking loans from other IPL franchises as well as the Saudi Arabian Prince, Badr bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan Al Saud.
RR's offer stands out from the others as it will see them take full control of operations. This will mark the end of Yorkshire's rich history of being a member's club for 160 years and make them the first county team to be owned by an overseas franchise.
RR's offer is being considered by Yorkshire's executive team and is likely to be put to the board, which will have to vote on it. If the deal goes through, the Indian franchise is set to bring their own executives to run the club which could have implications for the futures of Dareen Gough and Otis Gibson.
In the last few years, Yorkshire has found itself in the midst of a racism crisis after the shocking claims made by former player Azeem Rafiq, which led to a widespread inquiry and an independent panel report that revealed the deep-rooted issue.
Rajasthan Royals already have multiple overseas investments, having bought stakes in Caribbean Premier League (CPL) franchise Barbados Royals and Paarl Royals in South Africa's CSA T20 League.Yorkshire's sale to an overseas entity will complete a remarkable transformation, as until 1992, they did not allow overseas players to play for them. That all changed with none other than Sachin Tendulkar signing for them and becoming their first-ever foreign player in history.It is worth noting that RR's majority owner is UK-based businessman Manoj Badale.
