Abhishek Bachchan buys Jaipur franchise of Pro Kabaddi league

Bollywood superstar Abhishek Bachchan has thrown his weight behind the franchise-based Pro Kabaddi league scheduled to be held in India during the months of July and August by buying the Jaipur franchise for an undisclosed sum.

The league, a brainchild of industrialist Anand Mahindra and former cricket commentator Charu Sharma, will feature eight city-based franchises who will take on each other on a home and away basis.

“It is a matter of huge pride. Over a year ago Charu pitched pro kabaddi to me. It overwhelmed me. It is a cheap sport but the amount of skill required is immense. Having been a sportsman and being a sports enthusiast, it’s very exciting to be able to be part of this endeavour,” Bachchan said at a media conference.

“The sport of kabaddi is already immensely popular, and through the league I hope we can take this great sport to a whole new horizon,” Abhishek added.

The actor also added that celebrities buying franchises in the league was not going to add any extra value to the sport and that he bought the franchise only because he is passionate about kabaddi.

“Its just a coincidence that celebrities are team holders as well but, I don’t think it adds any value to the sports. We are associated with it because we are passionate about that sport,” he said.

The league is being supported by other big wigs such as Ronnie Screwvala(Mumbai), Future Group CEO Kishore Biyani, Uday Kotak(Pune), CEO of Yes Bank Rana Kapoor(Delhi), Core Green Group (Vizag), Kalapathi Investments (Chennai).

The owner of the Bangalore franchise is yet to be announced.

The league is scheduled to take place between July 26th and August 31st and will be telecast on Star Sports.