After remaining silent for 9 years, Vijay Mallya appeared and spoke on Raj Shamani’s podcast. Be it his childhood in Kolkata, his love for cars, his wide-spoken flamboyant life, being chairman of UB, bringing global attention to Kingfisher beer, the failure of Kingfisher Airlines, and facing charges, he opened his heart out in the four-hour-long podcast. However, Vijay Mallya’s story behind RCB, IPL, and Virat Kohli caught everyone’s attention.

Talking to Raj Shamani, Vijay Mallya revealed that he had bid for three IPL franchises. Mumbai was his first choice, but he lost to the Ambanis by a narrow margin. Subsequently, he had his eyes on Bangalore, his hometown, which he bought for $112 million. He named his franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore to promote his Royal Challenge whisky.

A member of the BCCI from the Karnataka Cricket Association, Vijay Mallya had interest in the IPL. He felt there was no bigger platform than the IPL to promote his business and bring global recognition for his brand.

Recalling his interaction with Lalit Modi, the man behind IPL’s inception, Vijay Mallya said that he loved Lalit’s pitch. “I was very impressed with the pitch that Lalit Modi made to the BCCI committee about this league. He called me one day and said ok, teams are going to be auctioned. Are you going to buy it? So, I bid from three franchises, and I lost Mumbai by a short margin to the Ambanis. Naturally, I picked Bangalore”, Mallya told Raj. Vijay Mallya’s popularity and flamboyance helped RCB in grabbing all the eyeballs and headlines.

As the first owner of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, he also shared the story behind selecting Virat Kohli, a newcomer at the time. Mallya wanted to create a bold and vibrant team, so he picked Jacques Kallis, Cameron White, and Mark Boucher alongside Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, and Zaheer Khan. After being impressed with Virat’s performance in the U-19 World Cup, he selected young Virat into his team. Interestingly, Delhi did not bid for Virat.

Vijay Mallya and Virat Kohli association is a major turning point for RCB. He brought immense popularity to the franchise. Virat remained with the same team since the inaugural season and finally won the IPL Trophy this year after 18 years.

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