The latest to enter the ring from the Bollywood hall of fame is Shilpa Shetty, joining the likes of Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta and Juhi Chawla.

Shetty and her beau, UK-based Raj Kundra, are reported to have bought roughly around 11-12 per cent stakes in an IPL team. She and Kundra were looking at it as a sound business proposition, Shilpa said after inking the deal.

No wonder they have decided to back last year’s winning team led by Shane Warne, the Rajasthan Royals.

The duo are planning a “creative” involvement to bring home their strengths in branding and marketing Rajasthan Royals.

This would imply a competition of sorts among the Bollywood stars having stakes. But Shilpa views it differently. “I agree people tend to closely watch us and our team’s performance, but there would hardly be any competition among Shah Rukh, Preity and me, because it’s our teams that play and not us.”

Last year, when Shah Rukh and Zinta picked up more than mere stakes in teams, it was widely perceived as a “marriage between cricket and Bollywood, the two religions of Indians”.

The mixture catapulted cricket into the arena of glamour, with fans aligning themselves, if not to their home teams, then to the Bollywood stars who either had stakes or were seen in the VIP gallery cheering and backing their favourite teams with a passion never seen before.

There were points to be scored on their professional front too, for, many actors were seen at the matches a few days before the release of their films.

Anil Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor turned cheerleaders for Mukesh Ambani’s Mumbai Indians for their match against Mallya’s Royal Challengers weeks before the Tashan release. Arjun Rampal who had just tasted success with Om Shanti Om, showed up for one of the matches with Karan Johar at match involving Shah Rukh’s Kolkata Knight Riders. As if in response, Mallya’s enclosure hosted Katrina Kaif and Akshay Kumar who had paired in a couple of movies.

Usually, the competition isn’t limited to the game but extends to the marketing tactics involved. Khan’s anthem, Korbo Lorbo Jitbo, for Knight Riders enjoyed a large fan base. His designer merchandise also saw his team featured in fashion magazines. Zinta inspired many to shed their make-up and get under the sun. Many of these women followed her Kings XI Punjab blindly. Not one to be left behind, Shilpa is also planning a strong publicity blitz.