Indian soccer, very much cricket’s poorer cousin, is set to receive a thumping endorsement from two cricketing legends Sachin Tendulkar , regarded by many as India’s greatest batsman, is set to partner with Hyderabad-based PVP Ventures to bid for a football team for a city-based tournament, called the Indian Super League , being launched by Rupert Murdoch’s Star Group and the sports arm of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries . A person privy to the developments said Sourav Ganguly , the former India captain who also retired from the game not too long ago, is tying up with Kolkata-based businessman Harsh Neotia for another team.The bidding for teams will start at a base price of Rs 120 crore for a 10-year contract. IMG-Reliance, a sports and event management company, said on Sunday that potential bidders had bought 30 bid documents and that it would announce the winners in the second week of April after suitors submit bids by March 27. A spokesperson for PVP Ventures confirmed the company has bought bid documents but declined comment on any partnership with Tendulkar. The master blaster did not respond to a text message. Harsh Neotia, the chairman of the Ambuja Neotia Group, confirmed that his company has picked up the bid documents and said a partnership with Ganguly is in the works.The new football league has also reportedly attracted other celebrity bidders including Bollywood stars Ranbir Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham and Shah Rukh Khan, the latter through his company Red Chillies, said people familiar with the ongoing bidding process. Other aspiring team owners include Emerging Media, the owners of Rajasthan Royals IPL team, GMR , which owns Delhi Daredevils, UB Group, which owns Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Sun Group, which owns SunRisers Hyderabad. Former UTV boss Ronnie Screwvala too has picked up the ‘Invitation to Bid’ document floated by IMG-Reliance, the people cited earlier said.Bids have been invited for nine cities — Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune. The top eight teams will be selected for the tournament. IMG-Reliance, which is managing the bidding process, is a joint venture between India’s largest private sector company and IMG Worldwide, which manages events and brands in many parts of the world.PVP had made an unsuccessful attempt to buy the Hyderabad franchise of IPL after its previous owners, the troubled Deccan Chronicle Group, defaulted. Its subsequent efforts to create a sports portfolio have been more successful. It has bought the Hyderabad franchise in the Indian Badminton League and has recently bought the India team in the Mahesh Bhupathi-promoted International Premier Tennis League.PVP’s tennis team has players such as Rafael Nadal, Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna. The first edition of the tournament was originally planned for January but was postponed till September 2014. IMG-Reliance had acquired commercial and marketing rights for football in India in 2010 from the All India Football Federation for Rs 700 crore to be paid over the 15-year period of the deal. The deal also included starting a new football league.In October last year, Star India had picked up a one-third stake in a company jointly owned by Reliance Industries and IMG that will run the new football league. The deal also gives Star the broadcast rights for the new league for 10 years.