Mumbai Indians (MI), the most successful franchise of the Indian Premier League (IPL), have gone global with a revelation of the names for their two new franchises in the upcoming UAE’s International League T20 and the South Africa T20 League.
Reliance Industries Limited, the official owners of MI, have named UAE’s team ‘MI Emirates’ and South Africa’s side ‘MI Cape Town’. Both teams will don the iconic blue and gold of the MI franchise. Phonetically, the two teams will be called “MY Cape Town” and “MY Emirates”, as they are dedicated to the fans of Cape Town and the Emirates.
“It gives me great pleasure to welcome ‘MI Emirates’ & ‘MI Cape Town’, the newest additions to our #Onefamily. For us, MI goes beyond cricket. It embodies the ability to dream, be fearless and foster a positive attitude in life,” said Nita Ambani, the Director of Reliance Industries, as quoted by MI on their official website.
“I am sure that both the MI Emirates and MI Cape Town will embrace the same ethos and take MI’s global cricket legacy to even greater heights!,” she added.
Notably, the Emirates Cricket Board will conduct the inaugural T20 tournament from January 6 to February 12, 2023, with three IPL franchises owning teams in the league. Out of the total six franchises, five are Indian companies, including Reliance Industries, which owns Mumbai Indians, Shah Rukh Khan’s Knight Riders Group, Delhi Capitals co-owners GMR, Adani Sportsline and Capri Global.
Regarding South Africa’s T20 tournament, all six teams in the league have been brought by IPL franchises. Apart from MI, who owns Cape Town, the other team owners are Chennai Super Kings (Johannesburg), Lucknow Super Giants (Durban), Sunrisers Hyderabad (Gqeberha), Rajasthan Royals (Paarl) and Delhi Capitals (Pretoria).
