GQ India – August 2019

100  AUGUST 2019

A TALE OF

TWO LEAGUES

A chance encounter led Abhishek Bachchan to snap up a team in the country’s Pro Kabaddi League

in 2014. He followed it up with a football team in the Indian Super League a few months later.

Arun Janardhan catches up with the part-team owner, strategist-in-chief and easy-going sports guru

I

t was Chennaiyin FC’s  rst home football

match in the inaugural season of the Indian

Super League, in October 2014. Team co-owner

Abhishek Bachchan was stuck in a car, headed

to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Bachchan

was happy to see the crowd – it meant people were

 ocking to see football in a city that’s traditionally

supported cricket – but stressed that he was going to

miss the opening moments of the match.

So he leaped out and started sprinting the last yards,

ignoring the curious looks. As he reached the gates,

the national anthem started playing, so he stood still,

feeling awkward and anxious. By the time he reached

the stands, he found his father Amitabh Bachchan, his

friend Rajinikanth and opponents Kerala Blasters’ co-

owner Sachin Tendulkar tucked in together.

“The greatest were all on one sofa, which was cute

because it wasn’t a big sofa. Ten minutes into the match,

I realised no one’s watching the  eld. All the fans were

looking at these three,” the 43-year-old remembers.

Seated in a conference room in the family of ce

bungalow Janak in Mumbai, Bachchan chuckles at the IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES