A consortium that includes Aditya Birla Group, Times of India Group, David Blizter-led Bolt Ventures and Blackstone on Tuesday acquired defending IPL champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for a whopping $1.78 billion (approx. ₹16,600 million crowns).
The news is a big boost for RCB, who begin their IPL 2026 campaign on Saturday (March 28) with a home match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
This deal makes RCB the costliest franchise ever in IPL history. United Spirits, a subsidiary of British drinks company Diageo, confirmed the sale of RCB in a statement.
This put RCB ahead of Rajasthan Royals (RR), which was acquired by a consortium led by American businessman Kal Somani for $1.63 billion (approx. ₹15,290 crore) earlier on Tuesday.
After the acquisition, former cricketer Aryaman Birla will become the chairman of RCB.
Who is Aryaman Birla?
Aryaman Birla is the son of Kumar Mangalam Birla who is the Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group. Born on 9 July 1997 in Mumbai, he is a former professional cricketer who played first-class cricket for Madhya Pradesh.
When he was 17, Aryaman left his home in Mumbai and moved to Madhya Pradesh to pursue opportunities in cricket. He made his first-class debut for Madhya Pradesh in a Ranji Trophy match against Odisha in November 2017.
This was after he gained experience playing cricket with West Hampstead Cricket Club and the London Schools Cricket Association, playing under former Middlesex cricketer Paul Weekes.
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In nine first-class matches, the 28-year-old scored 414 runs at an average of 27.60, including 50s and 100s. He also played four List A matches, scoring 36 runs.
In the U-23 CK Nayudu Trophy during the 2017-18 domestic season, the left-handed batsman scored 602 runs from nine innings at an average of 75.25. It also spanned three centuries.
He was acquired by RR in the IPL 2018 player auction. However, he did not play a single match and was released ahead of the 2020 season. In December 2019, Aryaman announced his retirement from professional cricket, saying he was dealing with “severe anxiety” over the game.
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“It has been a journey of hard work, perseverance, dedication and immense courage to get to this point in my cricket career. However, I have been dealing with severe anxiety related to the sport for some time now,” he said in a statement at the time.
“I felt trapped. I’ve pushed through all the adversity so far, but now I feel the need to put my mental health and well-being above everything else. We all have our own paths and I want to use this time to better understand myself, open my mind to new and diverse perspectives, and find purpose in my findings,” he added.
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He currently serves on the board of directors of Aditya Birla Management Corporation and is involved in leadership roles of sister companies including Grasim Industries and Aditya Birla Fashion.
He holds an MBA (Honours) from Harvard Business School as well as a Masters in Global Finance from Bayes Business School and a Business Degree from the University of Mumbai.
