MUMBAI: Bollywood star and Kolkata Knight Riders owner Shahrukh Khan and Delhi Daredevils owner GMR Sports have been named owners of the two largest franchisees of Cricket South Africa’s upcoming twenty-twenty over-format league – T20 Global league.While Khan will own the Cape Town franchise, GMR Sports has picked up Johannesburg. Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced the eight team owners at The Bvlgari in London today.Incidentally, Khan also owns the Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel franchise of the Caribbean Premier League, Trinbago Knight Riders.Khan's franchise will be called Cape Town Knight Riders and will have JP Duminy as the marquee player.Venky Mysore, CEO, KKR, said, "We want to grow the Knight Riders brand globally, and acquiring a team in T20 Global league is a step in that direction. The South African league promises to be a great extravaganza and we are thankful to Cricket South Africa for making us part of the new phenomenon. Cape Town is a world-class city with a huge Cricket loving public and we are glad to launch Cape Town Knight Riders."Meanwhile, talking to ET over phone from London, Hemant Dua, CEO of GMR Sports, said, “This is a perfect brand extension for Delhi Daredevils. We traditionally have had many South African players in the team, so picking up team in T20 Global made perfect sense. Also, we have recently picked up a Kabaddi team and we are building our sports business.”When asked on whether GMR Group also has business interests in South Africa, Dua added that GMR’s airport building business is doing well. “We have recently won rights to build a new airport in Greece and in race for Davao airport project in the Philippines. The group is always on the lookout for new business opportunities.”Apart from Khan and GMR, other team owners include Rana Fawad (Durban), owner of Qatar Lubricants Company, who also owns Lahore Qalandars franchise of Pakistan Super League; Javed Afridi (Benoni), Pakistani business executive and owner of PSL team Peshawar Zalmi; Dubai-based businessman Ajay Sethi (Port Elizabeth), chairman of Channel 2 Group; Mustaq Enus-Brey (Stellenbosch), cofounder of Brimstone Investment Corporation; Hong Kong-based businessman Sushil Kumar (Bloemfontein); and SA Consortium (Pretoria) lead by Osman Osman.“South Africa has a large India and Pakistan diaspora, and buying a team in the league is a way of expanding the promoter's business interest and popularity," said Ramakrishnan R, director at sports marketing firm Baseline Ventures.Ramakrishnan added that with franchisee leagues mushrooming and increasing global investor interest, there is a need to have a relook at the scheduling of bilateral series. “It looks like Cricket is going the football way. Franchisee and boards with deepest purse will attract the best players. Currently most leagues are played within a 6-8 week window and may not be long if it prolongs for a long period. Bilateral Series are becoming meaningless and also scheduling of bilateral series should be relooked.”Haroon Lorgat, CEO at CSA had told ET in an earlier interaction that the board had received over 150 expressions of interest (EOI) from around the world for teams.Chris Nenzani, president of CSA said that competition was stiff… but after rigorous discussions and engagement with each of the potential owners, “we are certain that our final eight owners have the perfect combination of strategic insight and passion”.The player draft is scheduled for August 19, with almost 400 players, including 160 international players from 10 countries confirming their interest.EY ran the team owner selection process to ensure integrity and compliance.The inaugural T20 Global League will commence in November this year and the final would be held on December 16.