GQ INSIDER
AUGUST 2019 — 101thought of the incident from ve years ago. He was then
the owner of two new teams in two new leagues – the
Pro Kabaddi League and the ISL – and treading into the
unknown. Now, even as the seventh season of the PKL
is underway and prep for the sixth season of the ISL
later this year has started, the actor has lessons learned,
experiences to be shared and much to look forward to.
The PKL was a risk that all stakeholders took,
turning an earthy, indigenous sport into a glitzy annual
event that’s the second-most popular sporting league
in the country after the Indian Premier League. His
team, the Jaipur Pink Panthers, won the rst season,
while Chennaiyin FC have two ISL titles so far, though
they nished last in 2018-2019. Since that fateful day,
when he had three superstars on a couch, Bachchan
has become synonymous with the two leagues, his
enthusiastic presence in the stands a familiar image
every season.
Bachchan also remembers his rst match of the PKL,
at the NSCI, Mumbai, in July 2014, when U Mumba
thrashed his team, despite all the preparation and pep
talk that preceded the event. After the match in the
dressing room, his team captain took him aside and told
him the problem. When the players, already overawed
by the occasion, the lights, cameras and blaring music,
looked up to the stands, they saw Senior Bachchan,
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir
Khan sitting there. The performers turned into gawkers
and their competitive spirit melted into fandom.
Now, before every season, the players are invited
to Janak and the Bachchan family comes over. The
players chat with them and take pictures. “And I say,
‘Seen them all? Are you happy? Now let’s go play,’”
Bachchan says, laughing.
Dressed in a checked red shirt over a white T-shirt
and jeans, Bachchan’s towering frame dwarfs the of ce
chair he’s sprawled in. Shifting frequently because of a
strained back, he says he always wanted to do something
in sport – he’d built an allegiance to the NBA (Los
Angeles Lakers) and EPL (Chelsea) through his years
spent studying in the US and the UK – but was clear it
would not be cricket. A chance social meeting some years
ago with sports commentator Charu Sharma – whose
rm at the time, Mashal Sports, rst imagined the PKL
- led him to see some local matches, and he was drawn
into the sport’s mass appeal.
Since their rst PKL player auction, when they had
little idea of who the players were and selected them on
a bit of a whim, Bachchan and his team have evolved.
They have similarly done some homework in football, to
reverse last season’s mixed results – losing in the ISL,
but nishing as runners-up in the Super Cup.
“Our strategy for last season was to get some solid
names, proven players,” he says, about kabaddi. “We
went with experience, wisdom and some statistics.
This year, we’ve gone with youth and hunger. What I’ve
realised is they have a point to prove, which the more
established players don’t.” One of the team’s big stars,
Anup Kumar, has left the squad, but at the auctions
in April, Jaipur maintained a low pro le. They chose,
among others, an untested young player, Karamvir, and
defenders Amit Hooda and Sunil Siddhgavali – leaving
the big spending to other teams.
“In the ISL, we underperformed. We need to reboot.
It’s the off-season and we’re working on reinforcing the
squad. We’re making our quiet moves... When you’ve won
the title twice, you don’t like not winning.” Chennaiyin
also recently renewed their contract with coach John
Gregory, who led the team to its second ISL title in 2017-
2018, besides bringing in defender Edwin Vanspaul from
I-League side Chennai City.
The PKL was such a shot in the dark when it
started that Bachchan jokingly admits to forming a
business plan only after their second match, having
sensed its potential by then. The Pink Panthers started
making pro ts in the second season, he claims, though
Chennaiyin have been a bit of a slow burner, considering
the ISL competes for fan attention with other foreign
leagues, like the EPL.
“Apart from our desire and passion with kabaddi,
we lucked out. It landed in our lap. Have we achieved
what we set out to do? Not yet. It’ll take a bit longer,
but we’re de nitely on that path. Kabaddi has taken off
like a rocket, but football, not as much.” Still, if the ISL
is judged by the kind of fan following and attendance it
has, rather than TV viewership gures, that’s a far more
encouraging story, he adds.
The actor, who will soon make his web series debut
with the second season of Breathe, says he’s always
aspired to be a leader rather than a boss, preferring to
stay, travel and train with the players, to be present in
the locker room before and after a match than sit in a
boardroom and bark orders. “I do appreciate that once
you grow, you delegate, but I’m terrible at it. I like to do
it myself,” he says.
As the conversation segues into Chelsea, the loss of
their key player Eden Hazard and coach Maurizio Sarri
to other teams, Bachchan sheds a mock tear before
musing on how owning sports teams has taught him
about man and time management, taking responsibility
and how to deal with success and failure. “Owning
[a team] is the next best to being a sportsperson,” he
agrees. “In a surrogate manner, you lead their lives,
enjoy their highs and lows. It makes a difference to the
players – when they see the owners cheering them on.”
He reiterates that whatever he does has to have a
personal connect, so his sports teams are more than
just businesses. He waits for a moment, takes a sip
of his coffee, before reluctantly elaborating on how
his team names came to be. Pink is his daughter’s
favourite colour, Jaipur is the Pink City and The Pink
Panther 2 was a lm his wife acted in. The panther
logo of the team has blue eyes, a reference to Chelsea’s
team colours (Chennaiyin and Chelsea have the same
abbreviation, CFC).
Bachchan adds, “When I was a child, dad used to call
me Tiger, and I felt the need to respond. So he would say,
‘Hi Tiger,’ and I would say, ‘How’s it going, Panther?’”