Meet 24-year-old Keshav Bansal, the youngest owner of an IPL team

Till last year, 24-year-old Keshav Bansal was busy running a mobile handset company as the Director of Intex Technologies India Ltd. Today, he is the youngest owner of an IPL team- the Gujarat Lions.

According to him, it took a mere 20 minutes to convince his father Narendra Bansal, who is the Chairman and Managing Director of Intex Technologies that he had what is needed to run an IPL franchise.

Talking to Livemint about his journey of owning an IPL team, Bansal admitted that he was infact in discussions with BCCI for a long-term sponsorship association for Intex as an on-ground sponsor for the IPL.

“That was six months before the auctions. Coincidentally, BCCI members bounced off the idea for bidding for a team. I got back to the office, researched and made a formal presentation to my father. It took us 20 minutes to decide and my father has supported me through this,” said Bansal.

Bansal, who grew up in a joint family studied at The Heritage School in Vasant Kunj before pursuing management AT IILM Institute of High Education in New Delhi. In between, he had also spent a year at the Manchester School of Business.

When he joined Intex, he was put in the logistics department and had to work his way to the company’s marketing team before becoming its Director.
By his own admission, Bansal has been actively involved in making ad films for the company right from strategy to ideation.

In the past too, he has had a reputation for taking on things at a young age. For example, he held his first press conference at 20 when Farhan Akhtar was appointed as Intex’s brand ambassador.

Owning an IPL team for Bansal ultimately boils down to a chapter in marketing.

“Intex Technologies and IPL have the same target audience—the youth. We have been majorly focusing on cricket to fulfil marketing goals. With Gujarat Lions, we have further strengthened the association and made it more meaningful..,” said Bansal in an interview to Mint.

That however doesn’t imply that he does not take an interest in cricket. But, at the same time, he claims he is equally fond of other sports as well. Naturally, he was also personally involved in the selection of players for the Gujarat Lions.

The team is captained by Suresh Raina who is aided my coach Brad Hodge. Others players include Ravindra Jadeja, Brendon McCullum, James Faulkner and Dwayne Bravo, to name a few.

Once his two-year association with IPL ends, Bansal already has another dream he would like converting to reality- that of taking Intex global.

Image credit: Indiatimes