While the Indian Premier League teams today are valued in billions, it all started with less than 100 million 19 years ago in 2008. A sheet of paper that was shared by former Indian Premier League (IPL) Commissioner Lalit Modi on his X (formerly Twitter) account, has revealed what the first bids were to acquire a team, in what would turn out to become the richest cricket league in the world.
The 76 million obsession of Preity Zinta
Preity Zinta, synonymous with Punjab today, her original sights were set squarely on the Maximum City. She alongside Ness Wadia and Mohit Burman bid $76 million not just for Mohali (Punjab Kings, Kings XI Punjab back then) but also for Mumbai and Delhi. She bid $75 million for Jaipur.
The $76M Strategy: How Zinta “Settled” for Mohali
However, she was “pipped” by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance, which went all-in with a staggering $111.9 million—the highest bid of the era to secure Mumbai.
The Mohali Win
Because $76 million was her threshold and the fact that she had placed nearly identical bids for Delhi and Mohali, so while she lost Delhi to the GMR Group ($84 million), her $76 million was the highest for Mohali, securing her the team we now know as the Punjab Kings.
Priety beat out the Anil Ambani Group (ADAG) for Mohali by a significant margin, as ADAG had opted for a much more conservative “low-ball” approach, bidding only $56.7 million.
The Original 2008 Price List (The Winning Bids)
Looking at these numbers today—where a single franchise like RCB just sold for $1.78 billion—the 2008 prices look like a clearance sale.
| Rank | City | Winning Owner | Winning Bid (2008) | 2026 Estimated Value |
| 1 | Mumbai | Reliance (Mukesh Ambani) | $111.9 M | ~$2.4 Billion |
| 2 | Bangalore | United Breweries (Vijay Mallya) | $111.6 M | ~$1.78 Billion* |
| 3 | Hyderabad | Deccan Chronicle | $107.01 M | ~$1.3 Billion (as SRH) |
| 4 | Chennai | India Cements (N. Srinivasan) | $91.0 M | ~$2.1 Billion |
| 5 | Delhi | GMR Group | $84.0 M | ~$1.2 Billion |
| 6 | Mohali | Preity Zinta / Ness Wadia | $76.0 M | ~$1.0 Billion |
| 7 | Kolkata | SRK / Red Chillies | $75.09 M | ~$1.9 Billion |
| 8 | Jaipur | Emerging Media (Manoj Badale) | $67.0 M | ~$1.63 Billion* |
*Reflects the 2026 sale prices for RCB and RR.
IPL 2008 Bids: Why SRK Got “Lucky” in Kolkata
Shah Rukh Khan’s $75.09 million for Kolkata is often cited as a masterclass in bidding. He didn’t overpay like the Ambani or Mallya groups, but he bid just enough to clear the field.
Interestingly, the documents show that no other major bidder put in a serious fight for Kolkata, as most conglomerates were obsessed with the “Tier 1” prestige of Mumbai and Delhi.
SRK essentially walked away with one of the most loyal fanbases in the world for the second-lowest price in the league.