5 cricketers who have invested in other sports 

Both on and off the pitch, cricketers earn handsome money. No other sport in the country is monetarily as rewarding as cricket. Brand endorsements, guest appearances, special performances; there is a lot on a cricketer’s list of additional income, which further propels them to become smart investors.

Indian cricketers are increasingly showing interest in other sports ventures, helping sports other than Cricket grow. From Virat Kohli’s investment in football to MS Dhoni’s investment in bike racing, here’s looking at 5 cricketers and their tryst with other sports as entrepreneurs.

---

#1 Virat Kohli - Football and Tennis

Kohli is associated with the ISL franchise FC Goa

One of the greatest tennis geniuses of all time and current world number 3 Roger Federer joined the UAE Royals franchise in the International Premier Tennis League’s second season last year. And this franchise is co-owned by Indian captain Virat Kohli.

At the unveiling of the team for the second season, Kohli said he was happy to be associated with a sport he has keenly followed since many years.

The International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) is a team-based tennis league founded by India’s multiple Grand Slam winner Mahesh Bhupathi. The inaugural edition in 2014, which was played across 4 Asian countries, featured 21 Grand Slam Champions and 14 former/current World Number Ones. The inaugural edition was won by Indian Aces. In 2015, Singapore Slammers were crowned champions.

Kohli’s first investment in football at the age of 25 is well-known. He is associated with the ISL franchise FC Goa. He owns about 25% of the stakes of the team at under Rs. 1 crore a year, as per Industry sources.

#2 Mahendra Singh Dhoni – Hockey, Football and Moto Racing

Dhoni owns the Ranchi franchise of Hero Hockey League

Along with the likes of Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, Mahendra Singh Dhoni also owns a football team in the high-profile Indian Super League. Dhoni invested in the Chennaiyin FC team in 2014 along with Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan and is frequently seen attending the games live. India’s former skipper played football and was a goalkeeper in his school team before he started playing cricket.

Other than football, Dhoni’s support towards Hockey is also well-known. In the same year, he became the owner of the Ranchi franchise of the Hockey India League (HIL). Dhoni bought the team along with Sahara India Pariwar, who already own the Uttar Pradesh Wizards side in the HIL. He once said that his main purpose behind this initiative was to nurture the natural hockey talent of his home state.

Captain Cool’s investments are not just restricted to football and hockey. In 2012, Dhoni launched his own bike racing team in 2012, called Mahi Racing Team India. The team competed in the Supersport World Championship until 2014, when, on facing budget difficulties, it withdrew from the championship.

#3 Sachin Tendulkar – Football, Tennis, Kabaddi and Badminton

Tendulkar and Ganguly at one of the ISL games

Kerala Blasters, one of the teams in Indian Super League, is co-owned by Sachin Tendulkar and Telugu actors Chiranjeevi and Akkineni Nagarjuna. During the inaugural season, the team was the runner-up, but in 2015, they managed to win only three out of their fourteen matches. The next year, they created a record of winning most consecutive home matches (six). They are yet to win an edition and will look to do so this year.

Tendulkar, who has been a long-time tennis fan also co-owns the Indian Aces team of the International Tennis Premier League (ITPL), which became the champions of the inaugural season.

And not just football and tennis, Tendulkar has invested in Badminton as well. He is the co-owner of Premier Badminton League (PBL) franchise "Bengaluru Blasters" alongside a few Tollywood film stars.

Sachin is also the co-owner of Tamil Thalaivas in the Pro Kabaddi League.

#4 Sourav Ganguly – Football

Atletico de Kolkata have won the tournament twice

The former India captain’s love for football is known to all. Ganguly, along with Spanish League giants Atletico Madrid and businessmen Harshavardhan Neotia, Sanjeev Goenka and Utsav Parekh, co-owns the Kolkata franchise, which is also the most successful team in the tournament.

Atletico de Kolkata, as the team is called, won the inaugural edition of the league in 2014, and once again reclaimed that trophy in 2016 to be the 2017 title defenders. In both their title-winning finals, Ganguly’s team beat Sachin’s Kerala Blaster. The Cricket Association of Bengal’s president is often spotted in the stadium during ATK games.

#5 Sunil Gavaskar – Tennis and Badminton

Gavaskar plays with Roger Federer during IPTL

Apart from Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar too invested in the International Premier Tennis League. Gavaskar, along with Kishan Gehlot, chairman of the Intex Group, Shashi Shetty, chairman of the Avvashya group, and Ajay Sethi, chairman of Channel 2, jointly owns the Singapore franchise of the league.

"Tennis as a sport has always been instrumental in transcending borders and catering to multiple demographies, therefore our decision to bid for the Singapore franchise in what I believe is the next big step towards the golden era of tennis." Gavaskar was quoted as saying.

Not just tennis, Gavaskar bought the Mumbai franchise of the Indian Badminton League (IBL) too, which is also co-owned by actor Akkineni Nagarjuna and former manager of the Indian cricket team V Chamundeshwarnath.

"I am proud to be associated with badminton which I've always admired and passionately followed and played a bit as a fan. The sport has produced legends and recorded many milestones for India and I hope my association with the Indian Badminton League proves to be a worthy contribution to the great sport of badminton," Gavaskar had said.