Ness Nusli Wadia News

 Looking back at the recently-concluded season, Wadia said the umpiring error to call a short-run when it wasn't, cost the team a play-off berth though it did not show the required consistency in the first year under captain and coach combine of Rahul and Kumble. Frequently changing captains and coaches has hurt Kings XI Punjab in the past and that is why the franchise has decided to work on a three-year plan under Anil Kumble and K L Rahul to take the side forward, co-owner Ness Wadia has said. It was a roller-coaster ride for KXIP this IPL. They lost six out of their first seven games before winning five in a row to storm back into play-off contention. The Rahul-led side needed to win its last league game against Chennai Super Kings to reach the top-four but it couldn’t. Looking back at the recently-concluded season, Wadia said the umpiring error to call a short-run when it wasn’t, cost the team a play-off berth though it did not show the required consistency in the...

 The co-owner of Punjab Kings, Ness Wadia , was left disappointed as to why his team's base in Mohali was not one of the potential venues of Indian Premier League 2021, despite low COVID-19 caseload.  Wadia told PTI: "We have written to the BCCI to find out under what criteria they have selected the venues and why they have not selected us. We were hoping to have games in Punjab."  According to reports, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Chennai have been shortlisted as potential venues but the BCCI is yet to take a final call on the matter. Holding the matches in Mumbai are unlikely due to a spike in COVID-19 cases. 

  Ness Wadia came out in support of BCCI on Tuesday by backing the board's decision to suspend IPL 2021 in India amid the raging Covid-19 pandemic. Punjab Kings co-owner Ness Wadia came out in support of BCCI on Tuesday by backing the board's decision to suspend IPL 2021 in India amid the raging Covid-19 pandemic. He stated that it was the 'right call' and that the situation deteriorated quickly. The Indian Premier League Governing Council (IPL GC) and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday suspended the IPL 2021 indefinitely after numerous players and members of various franchises test positive for Covid-19 in the last couple of days. Speaking to PTI, Wadia also said that he welcomes the governing body's decision to defer the league for the time being. "Best decision has been taken given the circumstances. Lot of people are suffering in India," said Wadia.

The agonizing wait for the 2020 edition of the IPL is almost at an end with the official announcement imminent. With the UAE all set to host the tournament, the focus now shifts to the elaborate planning to ensure the safety of all the stakeholders. In a pandemic-wary era, one of the co-owners of Kings XI Punjab believes that all the players and support staff need to be tested every day for COVID-19. "I would want as much testing as possible and preferably daily," Wadia told the Press Trust of India. "If I was a cricketer, I would be very happy in getting myself tested every day. There is no harm in it. Strict safety protocols have to be put in place both for off-field and on-field activities to make the IPL safe and successful. They should not be compromised at all.” Wadia acknowledged the enormous challenge of accommodating a tournament across three venues, involving eight teams while making sure no safety norms are sidestepped. "Bio-security is somethin...

 We needed to rebrand and reinvent ourselves after so many years,” the team’s co-owner said. KXIP is now Punjab Kings and its co-owner Ness Wadia on Saturday said the franchise needed to rebrand itself after so many years of IPL and the name change was something it wanted since 2019. Wadia feels Punjab Kings is a simpler name compared to Kings XI Punjab and will connect more with their fan base. "We just felt that we wanted to relook at things. We needed to rebrand and reinvent ourselves after so many years. As they say if something doesn't work, change it and try and get it working," Wadia told PTI, referring to the team's title-less run in the IPL since the event's inaugural edition in 2008. "Kings XI Punjab had a reference to the playing XI. Punjab Kings is more inclusive and will resonate better with the fans,” he said. Orginal Article Published on - The Hindu

 KXIP is now Punjab Kings and its co-owner Ness Wadia on Saturday said the franchise needed to rebrand itself after so many years of IPL and the name change was something it wanted since 2019. Wadia feels Punjab Kings is a simpler name compared to Kings XI Punjab and will connect more with their fan base. “We just felt that we wanted to relook at things. We needed to rebrand and reinvent ourselves after so many years. As they say if something doesn’t work, change it and try and get it working,” Wadia told PTI , referring to the team’s title-less run in the IPL since the event’s inaugural edition in 2008. “Kings XI Punjab had a reference to the playing XI. Punjab Kings is more inclusive and will resonate better with the fans,” he said. Read Full Article Here

Instead of speculating on the IPL’s title sponsorship, Kings XI Punjab co-owner Ness Wadia says the focus must be on ensuring that not a single Covid-19 case is reported during the event, which according to him, is set to be the “best ever”. Though the BCCI has not confirmed that Chinese mobile phone maker Vivo has pulled out of title sponsorship for this season, it is likely that the company will back out from the Rs 440 crore per year contract at least this season given the soaring Sino-India diplomatic tensions. “There is much speculation going on. I think it is ridiculous. The only thing we (team owners) know is that the IPL is happening. We are very concerned about the safety of the players and all others involved. Even if there is one case, the IPL could be doomed,” Wadia told PTI after the owners’ meeting on Wednesday evening. Read Full Article Here

 Punjab co-owner Ness Wadia on Friday advocated daily testing of players during the IPL and predicted that the upcoming edition in the UAE will be the most-watched in the tournament’s history. Wadia’s comments came after IPL chairman Brijesh Patel confirmed that the T20 league will be held from September 19 to November 8. All teams are now awaiting the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) from the BCCI, which will finalize the logistics in the IPL Governing Council meeting next week. Read Full Article Here

 Ness Wadia on Friday advocated daily testing of players during the IPL and predicted that the upcoming 13th edition of the T20 league in the UAE will be the most watched in the tournament’s history. Wadia’s comments came after IPL chairman Brijesh Patel confirmed that the T20 league will be held from September 19 to November 8. All teams are now awaiting the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) from the BCCI, which will finalise the logistics in the IPL Governing Council meet next week. “Strict safety protocols have to be put in place both for off-field and on-field activities to make the IPL safe and successful. They should not be compromised at all,” Wadia said. “I would want as much testing as possible and preferably daily. If I was a cricketer, I would be very happy in getting myself tested everyday. There is no harm in it,” he added. It is pretty clear that the IPL won’t be able to maintain a bio-secure environment like the England and Wales Cricket Board has managed for the on...

  We're all starved of good quality live sports, says Kings XI Punjab Co-owner At a time when major sporting events across the world are getting postponed or cancelled amid the raging coronavirus pandemic, the Indian Premier League – the world’s richest cricket league – is set to begin in the UAE on September 19. Apart from the impact of the global economic crisis, the sponsorship sum for the IPL also reduced by nearly half with its erstwhile title sponsor Vivo pulling out due to the India-China geopolitical tensions. This would have a bearing on the franchise teams’ earnings too.  BusinessLine  spoke to Ness Wadia, co-owner of Kings XI Punjab, one of the eight teams of the Dream11 Indian Premier League 2020, to understand how the team is managing the business aspects. Excerpts: You have said that this would be the best IPL ever and the most-watched one. What makes you confident, despite the dampened sentiments due to Covid-19? I think we are all starved of good quality l...

Venture Catalysts, India’s first and largest integrated incubator and accelerator, has recently led an undisclosed round of investment in AgriGator, a B2B digital supply chain platform. The funding round was led by Manish Modi on behalf of Venture Catalysts with industrialist and entrepreneur Ness Wadia as a co-investor. AgriGator is a 100X.VC Nov 2019-funded portfolio company. Founded in 2019 by Udit Sangwan and Charu Chaturvedi, AgriGator aims to provide a one-stop solution to the inefficiencies in the agricultural supply chain market by facilitating trade and logistics service between buyers, sellers, and carrier providers, in return for a small commission on every transaction. After buying from farmers, traders have traditionally depended on distributors or brokers to transport their grains from farms to mandis across states. Due to the high fees demanded by the brokers for arranging on-the-spot transportation, small scale traders and industries are forced to take loans. This is...

Punjab Kings co-owner Ness Wadia on Tuesday backed the Indian cricket board’s original decision to host Indian Premier League 2021 at home amid the Covid-19 threat, saying that was the “right call” before the situation deteriorated quickly. IPL 2021 was on Tuesday suspended indefinitely after multiple Covid-19 cases were reported in its bio-bubble, ending a month-long relatively smooth run for cricket’s most popular T20 event in the middle of a raging pandemic.Wadia welcomed the decision to suspend the league for the time being. “Best decision has been taken given the circumstances. Lot of people are suffering in India,” Wadia told PTI. As far as hosting the event was concerned at the first place he said, “Due diligence was done before the IPL but no one is perfect. The right call was taken to hold it in India ahead of the World Cup it is just unfortunate that situation deteriorated so quickly.” The decision to postpone the league was announced after a Sunrisers Hyderabad batsman and ...

 Kings XI Punjab co-owner Ness Wadia on Thursday said that hard-hitting West Indies opener Chris Gayle has done enough to play every game of the next IPL. The KXIP think tank surprised many when Gayle did not feature in their playing XI at the start of IPL 2020. It took seven matches for KXIP to bring Gayle in their playing XI and by that time the damage was already done. They lost six out of their first seven games. Gayle was not picked for the first five games and food poisoning ruled him out for the next two. He scored solid 53 in his first game of IPL 2020 against RCB and eventually ended up with 288 runs at 41.14 including a 99. “The team management did what it thought was best for the team. It is important to back experienced players and Gayle has demonstrated that he should play every game next season,” Wadia told PTI. Gayle’s inclusion in the side also brought KXIP back to winning ways as they won five in a row to spice-up the points table. The Rahul-led side needed to win ...