Mumbai Indians players hold the Indian Premier League trophy as they celebrate their victory against Rising Pune Supergiant after the IPL final at Hyderabad in May this year. Pic/AFP

Star India claimed the Indian Premier League (IPL) media rights (television and digital broadcast) for a whopping R 16,347.50 crore for the next five years at the IPL media rights auction in the city yesterday. The bid amount, worth approximately $2.5 billion dollars, is more than twice as much as the amount that World Sports Group had bid nine years ago. The previous 10-year bid for TV rights was bought by Sony at Rs 8200 crore in 2008.