Sports
Rajpal Yadav takes over as owner of Kanpur Gullies
MUMBAI: T-10 Gully Cricket Season 2, Ab Har Koi Khelega‘ that kick-started its second season has signed actor Rajpal Yadav as a team owner of Kanpur Gullies. Yadav has paid Rs 4 million to take control of the team.
Yadav will own this team and will be responsible for marketing and promoting it. He will be involved from the grass-root level in all the aspects of the team from selection, grooming of the players to cheering them in the stadium etc.
He will also be instrumental in promoting this social cause and garnering various corporate sponsorships for his team in this season.
Said Yadav, “Genuinely delighted to be an owner of this wonderful team, it gives me an opportunity to connect with my roots, as I am primarily from Kanpur. For decades this city and this state has always displayed extraordinary sporting skills in all disciplines, but many of these talents never got their due credit, Kanpur Gullies being the semi finalists in the first season only consolidates their cricketing prowess.
“T-10 Gully Cricket format comes across at an apt stage for the youngsters to showcase their talent. There are some extremely brilliant players who play in the gullies of our country, and in the process have sharpened their skills continuously bettering their performances. It‘s time that their skills are projected in front of the country and they get their deserved due.”
Incidentally, Kanpur Gullies had been a promising semi finalist in the T-10 Gully Cricket Season 1 and had powerhouse performances delivered by all its players.
Organisers, Reasonable Communications is aiming to disburse individual ownership for each team for all the 16 teams in Season 2. It will follow the city franchisee model for which discussions are on at various levels with local celebrities and corporates who have national appeal.
This season 2 that commenced from 26 September will be played amongst 896 players from 64 teams in Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Panchkula, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Balia, Patna, Gwalior, Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad, Surat, Nashik, Latur & Daman and will be telecast live on DD Sports while its highlights will be shown on DD 1.
Sports
After Virat Kohli’s exit, One8 Commune Bengaluru shuts down
Outlet near Chinnaswamy closes amid rent row, compliance issues mount
BENGALURU: The One8 Commune outlet near M. Chinnaswamy Stadium has shut down following a court order, bringing a turbulent chapter for the high-profile dining destination to a close.
The immediate trigger was a legal dispute over unpaid dues. The outlet, operated by Trio Hills Hospitality, had reportedly defaulted on rent payments for nearly six months. Including maintenance charges and revenue share commitments, the outstanding amount is said to have crossed Rs 2 crore. A Bengaluru civil court subsequently directed the closure of the premises until all financial obligations are cleared.
The shutdown comes months after Virat Kohli, whose brand name lent the outlet its identity, had already distanced himself from the Bengaluru franchise. According to reports, concerns around repeated compliance-related issues prompted his team to withdraw the association. The removal of the One8 branding is believed to have impacted footfall, further straining the business.
The outlet had also faced regulatory scrutiny over the years. In 2024, authorities booked the establishment for operating beyond the 1:00 am curfew. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike had issued notices over missing fire safety clearances, while an FIR was filed for violating tobacco regulations by not providing a designated smoking zone under applicable laws.
In response to the closure, the brand maintained that the issue stemmed from building-level compliance responsibilities linked to the property owner rather than operational lapses on its part. It also denied that financial default was the primary reason, reiterating that customer safety remained a priority.
For now, the shutters remain down. While a reopening is theoretically possible if disputes are resolved, the absence of Kohli’s brand association makes a return under the One8 banner increasingly unlikely.
