The Indian Premier League (IPL) has become a festival of the Indian cricket fans ever since 2008 and it has also changed the course of India’s journey with the game. The appeal of the flamboyant T20 tournament is something that even big shots from India’s film industry have not been able to overlook. From Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta to Shilpa Shetty, there has been more than one name from the glamour industry which has remained involved with the annual festival for a while now.

Recently, the megastar of Bollywood found himself in headlines over involvement with the IPL though he has straightaway denied such reports. The actor is none other than Amitabh Bachchan who has said that his family was never interested in picking equity stakes in any of the franchises of India’s biggest money-spinner. As quoted in India Today, he said, “This news is incorrect”.

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 As per the reports of Times of India, Mr. Bachchan was reportedly interested along with his son Abhishek to buy stakes in Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR), the two franchises who returned last season after serving two years of suspension. It was also reported that while the father-son duo’s talks with current champions CSK were unsuccessful, talks with Rajasthan Royals (RR) had gone beyond the initial round. Abhishek had also met Royals co-owner Manoj Badale in London.

It may be mentioned here that the Bachchans have stakes in Indian Super League franchise Chennaiyin FC and Pro Kabaddi League side Jaipur Pink Panthers. The senior Bachchan has also been seen promoting Pro Kabaddi League by lending a singing voice.

The 2019 season of the IPL is set to be held early in March-May owing to the World Cup which will kick off in England on May 30. The CSK went on to win their third championship on return to the tournament last year under an inspiring captaincy of MS Dhoni, who also has stakes in Chennaiyin FC along with Abhishek.