Mukesh Ambani, Sundar Pichai seen at Lords; spark rumours of investment in UK league

 

It’s a power-packed picture – one of India’s richest people, one of Silicon Valley’s most influential CEOs, and a decorated former cricketer and coach.

On Tuesday, Team India’s former head coach Ravi Shastri shared a picture with Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. The three men were watching a game of cricket at Lords, sparking immediate speculations of corporate interest in ‘The Hundred’ - England’s innovative cricket league with each match consisting of 100 balls. 

Business Today reached out to RIL for a comment. We will update the copy if we get a response.

The ongoing second edition of The Hundred has Shastri doing commentary for a UK broadcaster. Sharing the picture on Twitter, he wrote, “In the august company of two people who love their cricket - Mr Mukesh Ambani and Mr @sundarpichai at @thehundred.”

Reliance, of course, is deeply invested in cricket, owning 3 T20 leagues in 3 countries, including BCCI’s IPL, Emirates Cricket Board's upcoming UAE T20 League, and most recently, Cricket South Africa’s T20 league. 

Last month, following RIL’s acquisition of the Cape Town-based T20 franchise, Reliance Jio Chairman Akash Ambani said in a statement, “We look forward to leveraging our expertise and depth of knowledge in the cricket ecosystem and brand Mumbai Indians to help build the team and provide fans with some of the best cricketing experiences.”

Sundar Pichai, on the other hand, is a self-confessed cricket fan, who once harboured dreams of becoming a professional player.

“I did dream of being a cricketer like so many Indians. I used to be a huge fan of [Sunil] Gavaskar when he was playing and later, Sachin (Tendulkar) when he played,” Pichai had shared in his address at a Delhi college during his India visit in 2015.

Interestingly, Ambani and Pichai share a business relationship outside cricket too. Back in 2020, Google invested Rs 33,737 crore for a 7.7 per cent stake in Jio Platforms. It made the search giant the second-largest minority shareholder in Jio after Facebook.

Pichai had made a virtual appearance at Reliance’s 43rd AGM, announcing the low-cost Google-Jio smartphone specifically for the Indian market.

Whether the two men are up for a sports partnership now is only a matter of conjecture!