Mannoj Jain (top) and Shilpa Shetty

Calcutta’s connect with Rajasthan looks all set to go beyond Sonar Kella with an industrialist from the city eager to buy the Rajasthan Royals. With Calcutta’s home team, KKR, owned by Mumbaikars and skippered by a Delhiite, and the city’s best-known cricketer taken by Pune Warriors, the deal could give Calcuttans another team to root for.

Mannoj Kumar Jain, the founder chairman of the Jain Group of Industries, was candid when asked why he had picked the Jaipur-based team. “Well, because I don’t have a chance to buy KKR!” he said.

Jain confirmed that he was “interested” in acquiring maximum stake in the Rajasthan Royals — the team that had romped home in the inaugural season of IPL. “Yes, I am interested in buying majority stake in Rajasthan Royals. It is of course subject to BCCI approval,” Jain told Metro from Qatar. The team is owned by Shilpa Shetty and businessman husband Raj Kundra among others.

Sources said Jain was to pay $200 million for a little less than 90 per cent stake in Jaipur IPL Cricket Pvt Ltd, the holding company of the Royals.

In November 2011, Metro had reported how the Jain Group, which has presence in infrastructure, automobile, steel, energy, real estate and hospitality, had shown interest in Everton, the 133-year-old former Premier League club of Wayne Rooney.

With the KKR ranked the second-most valuable franchise brand at $46 million, according to recent research by a UK-based brand valuation company, co-owners Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla and husband Jay Mehta are not likely to sell it off. Rajasthan would be the next choice since the Jains are originally from that state and moved to Calcutta half a century ago.

For Calcuttans, the only other local link with the team could be Bengal player and keeper Sreevats Goswami, who will have to vie with Sri Lankan Dinesh Chandimal and Vadodara’s Pinal Shah for a spot in the playing XI.

There’s a lot more going for the Royals though — be it captain Rahul The Wall Dravid or mentor Shane Warne. And, if glamour quotient is what you are looking for, the boys in blue have always had Shilpa sizzling Shetty cheering. And, if you are lucky, you could catch the sexy Liz Hurley too.