Played Ranji for MP, picked by RR in 2018, now owns an IPL franchise: Meet RCB's new chairman Aryaman Vikram Birla

New Delhi, March 25 (IANS) Aryaman Vikram Birla will become the new chairman of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru after a consortium led by the Aditya Birla Group and Times Internet Limited acquired the defending Indian Premier League (IPL) and Women's Premier League champions for Rs 16,660 crore.

Bolt Ventures (Bolt) and Blackstone's perpetual private equity strategy (BXPE, Blackstone) are the other members of the consortium that have jointly bought the RCB, one of the eight original franchises of the IPL that was formed ahead of the inaugural edition in 2008.

Aryaman, the son of chairperson of Aditya Birla Group Kumar Mangalam Birla, is a former cricketer who played for Madhya Pradesh in domestic cricket.

Aryaman enrolled himself for district trials in Madhya Pradesh in 2014. Prior to that, he had a three-month stint in England under former Middlesex cricketer Paul Weekes, playing for West Hampstead Cricket Club and the London Schools Cricket Association.

He spent four years in the junior circuit in Madhya Pradesh and also captained the MP U23 team, before being handed a Ranji Trophy debut in October 2017. The left-handed batter played nine first-class matches for Madhya Pradesh and scored 414 runs, including one century against Bengal at the Eden Gardens. He also scored 36 runs in four List-A matches.

He registered in the IPL 2018 mega auction and was bought by inaugural champions Rajasthan Royals for Rs 30 lakh. However, he did not play a single match for the franchise and was released ahead of the 2020 season.

Aryaman had been through a number of injury setbacks and, in 2019, took an "indefinite sabbatical from cricket", citing "severe anxiety related to the sport." He did not return to cricket and is currently the director of the Aditya Birla Group.

Aryaman, who holds an MBA with honours from Harvard Business School, a Master’s degree in Global Finance from Bayes Business School, and a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from the University of Mumbai, has held leadership roles across multiple businesses of the Aditya Birla Group, including fashion, paints, and real estate.

He serves on the board of the Group's apex body, Aditya Birla Management Corporation, as well as on the boards of several key Group companies, including Grasim Industries, Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail (ABFRL), and the Group's digital-first fashion platform, TMRW.

He is the founder of Aditya Birla New Age Hospitality, the Group’s fast-growing hospitality platform, and Aditya Birla Ventures, its venture capital arm focused on investing in high-growth start-ups across emerging sectors.

--IANS

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