Aryaman Birla is set to take charge as the new Chairman of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) following the franchise’s acquisition by a consortium comprising the Aditya Birla Group, The Times of India Group, Bolt Ventures and Blackstone.
The ownership change comes just ahead of IPL 2026, where RCB will look to defend their maiden title. Aryaman Birla will assume the role of chairman as part of the newly formed leadership structure.
On Tuesday (March 24), the franchise was reportedly sold for USD 1.78 billion, approximately INR 16,700 crore. The deal saw the formation of a new ownership consortium involving Aditya Birla Group (ABG), The Times of India Group (ToI), Bolt Ventures (Bolt) and Blackstone’s perpetual private equity strategy (BXPE).
Aryaman Vikram Birla, son of Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, will head the franchise in his capacity as chairman. He currently serves as a director within the Aditya Birla Group.
Aryaman Birla’s cricketing background
The 28-year-old has prior experience as a professional cricketer, having featured in Ranji Trophy cricket for Madhya Pradesh. He made his domestic debut in November 2017 as an opening batter and went on to play nine first-class matches along with four List A fixtures.
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In first-class cricket, the left-handed batter registered one century and one half-century, scoring 414 runs across 16 innings.
Following his last domestic appearance in January 2019, Aryaman stepped away from the sport for an unspecified period, citing anxiety-related concerns.
Association with Rajasthan Royals
Aryaman Birla was part of the Rajasthan Royals squad during IPL 2018 after being signed at the auction. Entering with a base price of INR 20 lakh, the opening batter was eventually secured for INR 30 lakh following a brief bidding contest between Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab, now known as Punjab Kings.
Despite being part of the squad, he did not make his IPL debut that season. He was retained for the 2019 campaign but again did not feature in the playing XI. The franchise later released him ahead of the IPL 2020 auction, after which he took an indefinite sabbatical from the game in December 2019.
