Manchester's Hundred franchise set for name change

Manchester Originals will incorporate 'Super Giants' into their name for future seasons of The Hundred, says the Indian billionaire who controls the franchise.

Sanjiv Goenka's RPSG Group paid £80m for a 70% stake in the team based at Old Trafford.

He is the owner of Indian Premier League (IPL) side Lucknow Super Giants and SA20 side Durban Super Giants in South Africa, and revealed the Manchester team will now be brought into line with his other franchises.

In an exclusive interview, Goenka told BBC Sport: "You will see a name change, and we will definitely bring in the Super Giants into this."

"That is something that we're trying to integrate, Super Giants into all our franchises."

Manchester Originals are the first of the eight privatised Hundred teams to confirm such a change since the ECB invited investment into the teams, with others expected to follow suit.

This week the American investors in the Lords-based London Spirit said they would retain their current name.

One of India's richest tycoons, Goenka suggested the rebranding will happen in October, with officials understood to be considering Manchester Super Giants or Manchester Originals Super Giants.

In a further sign of the influence the new investors will now have over the tournament's future, he said the team's current black kit and identity could also undergo an overhaul, adding: "We'd like to have an integrated colour palette for all our cricket franchises."

With Originals stars Jos Buttler and Heinrich Klaasen also signed up to his Durban franchise, Goenka revealed that he would like as many players as possible to represent each of his three cricket teams.

"We would definitely want that but with the IPL it's an auction system and therefore it's not always the simplest thing to do.

"[However], we would definitely strive towards that because it brings a greater bonding, it brings a greater continuity, it brings a greater understanding."

'The world thought I was mad'

Even though Hundred teams have only four home fixtures each season and own no tangible assets, the ECB's auction raised a staggering £520m to be reinvested in domestic cricket. When asked how he intended to achieve a return on his huge investment, Goenka identified overseas TV rights as potentially "huge", and said: "When I invested $900m to buy an IPL team, the entire world thought I was mad.

"In the space of three and a half years, [it] is probably worth $1.5bn. The IPL is a league like no other but The Hundred…can only grow and we do believe that it will grow hugely.

"It's about building an emotional connection with not only the sport, but the format and more importantly the team. It doesn't happen overnight. The IPL has taken 18 years to reach where it is." The IPL is currently valued at £14bn.

Goenka said the quality of players in the 100-ball format was "better than I had anticipated" but also added, "can we get other higher quality players of international standard to come and play here? We surely can."

The Hundred, which launched in 2021, features double-headers where men's and women's teams play matches at the same venue on the same day. When asked what he thought about the women's competition, Goenka said: "There is a lot that needs to be done to bring up the standard, but it's a great start."

Some of the other investors in The Hundred are expected to push for it to become a T20 competition, but Goenka said: "I'm frankly enjoying this format. I'm much more familiar, over a longer period of time with the T20… but the more I see this, the more I like it."

'A responsibility'

RPSG Group secured a controlling stake in Manchester Originals after being outbid by a Californian tech consortium for the London Spirit franchise.

"You're never happy not to win any bid, but am I happy with the outcome, the way it's gone for us? I'm very happy with it," Goenka insisted.

Owners of IPL teams have invested in four of the franchises, and despite the Originals' impending rebrand, Goenka insists he is respectful of the host county's heritage.

"The very fact that we are partners with Lancashire, it's a responsibility. It's something that we are cognisant of and it's something that we will do our best to deliver on," he said.

When asked if the team could benefit the county, he added: "The ownership is separate but I think the interests are common. We would like to work with Lancashire to see what we can do to develop cricket here. Until that happens, the Manchester Originals as a franchise will not grow significantly.

"And what can we do, say, in five years, seven years, to have a bulk of the national team in England coming out of Manchester? So like today, you have a Jos Buttler or Phil Salt or a Josh Tongue. How could we get more and more players from here developing their competencies to the level where they are called [up] for national duty?"

The absence of some England players from Hundred matches so soon after the conclusion of the thrilling drawn Test series against India has reinforced concerns over the impact the franchise tournament is having on the fixture calendar and player workload. A question asked has been whether greater planning is needed to ensure the biggest stars are available.

"I don't think The Hundred creates issues for the other formats," said Goenka. "I think the cricket calendar is such that every league is back-to-back, that's the way this game goes. I think players need to be fit enough to take that pressure.

"If the players believe they cannot do justice to a format, then they should not make themselves available."

On Monday, Manchester Originals' men's side secured their first win of this year's competition, beating London Spirit.