Now that all of the legal and financial obstacles are through, the DLF Indian Premier League is now ready to being its season on April 18. Bollywood actress and co-owner of inaugural IPL Champion Rajashthan Royals Shilpa Shetty is ready for the season to finally get underway. While the IPL has been a cash cow becoming a billion dollar entity in only its first season, the move to South Africa due to general elections in India has scared some sponsors and advertisers. Shetty and her boyfriend, businessman Raj Kumdra believe this is a long term investment that will pay off huge dividends.

“Raj and I have thought of it as a long-term investment plan and I really think the way the Rajasthan Royals have turned out as a team has been spectacular,” Shetty told the Times.co.za.

Being the co-owner of the reigning champion Rajasthan Royals might make life easier for Shilpa Shetty than some other celebrity owners of IPL franchises such as Shahrukh Khan, Preity Zinta, and Juhi Chawla. While that brings major bragging rights, it also brings higher expectations of her and of her team as they look to remain the only champions the Indian Premier League has ever known.

“The [Rajasthan Royals’] growth as a team and an investment has gone by leaps and bounds. It made money even last year, and it will continue to make money this year, despite the whole shift from India to South Africa.”

The Rajasthan Royals open up their schedule in Cape Town on April 18 against the Bangalore Royal Challengers. The difference between this Twenty20 tournament and regular cricket is that the time of the game is considerably shorter, something that Shilpa Shetty highly approves of.

“I’ve always been a very impatient person. I always like to watch the last 20 overs. I’ve never had the patience to watch a whole match. This whole Twenty20 format for me is really interesting and I’m a huge fan of that,” Shetty said.

While she’s a huge fan of the cricket time, she’s not a fan of having to pick favorites on her team. When asked to name her favorite cricketer, Shilpa Shetty said, “I think it’s rather unfair of me to take just one player’s name, especially when you’re a co-owner. So I just simply say whoever makes the most runs, and gets the most wickets, for the Rajasthan Royals, becomes my favorite player.” She is definitely playing it safe there.
Source – desihits.com