Shilpa Shetty signs up for upcoming IPL

Britain’s favourite Bollywood actress, Shilpa Shetty, has joined the likes of Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta by buying a stake of franchise of the Indian Premiere League (IPL) cricket.

According to reports, the former ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ star has bought a 11.7 per cent stake in last year’s winning team Rajasthan Royals.

Shilpa Shetty and her partner – UK based business man Raj Kundra – have invested $16.8 million (Rs 820 million) in the Rajasthan Royals. That puts the valuation of the franchise at around $140 million (Rs 6.83 billion), more than double the $67 million that the owners, Emerging Media, paid for it a little over a year ago.

Shetty now joins the ranks of fellow actress Preity Zinta who owns the Kings XI Punjab team along with her partner Ness Wadia, while Juhi Chawla and Shah Rukh Khan own the Kolkata Knight Riders team.

The second season of the IPL series kicks off next month.